Wrapped
by suenethakchan
Summary: School is certainly not the best place to escape the devil's watch. The devil, my fiance whom I was forced upon. Life sucks -Mikan
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! If you were wondering what's taking me so long to update CLARITY, well then this was the reason. Here it is, a new chapter of a new story. Hope you'd enjoy.**

 **DISCLAIMER; I don't own Gakuen Alice**

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WRAPPED

 _BY – SUE CHAN_

 _ **Chapter one**_

It was Friday morning. A usual school day for the high school students in class 2-B, Alice Academy. Some of them were excited about how to spend their weekend in a special way while some others just prepared themselves for the morning lessons. Yet the atmosphere was fairly energetic compared to the gloomy atmosphere around the aburn haired girl with hazel eyes. She was sitting in a corner of the classroom, hitting her head on her desk a couple of times while mumbling something to herself. Normally you'd think that she just hated coming to school in the morning or something like that, but her best friend knew better.

"Now what's wrong this time, Mikan?" The athemist eyed raven asked the brunette.

"Oh, Hotaru!" Mikan yelled and suddenly threw herself on to the raven, but the raven managed to dodge it pretty well. "Meanie!" Mikan yelled again.

"I just don't want my clothes wrinkled early in the morning, idiot" Hotaru said while she took a seat in front of the brunette indicating her to spill the so called news.

"It's just terrible Hotaru! Simply inhuman!" the brunette went on.

"No it's not. If you were talking about _that thing,_ it only means that you'd be richer" the brunette's so called friend answered stoically. Hotaru still couldn't see what was there to rant about.

"How can you say something like that Hotaru!" Mikan yelled again. Yet she wasn't that surprised of her friend's reaction. This was Hotaru Imai after all.

Hotaru blankly stared at Mikan while saying; "I still don't see why you're making a big deal out of it"

Unbelievable. Here she was stating how unfair her life was and her friend still seemed calm and reserved about it.

"Hotaru" she went on. "I have been – she lowers her voice – engaged since I was six years old for twelve freaking years and I was just told about it yesterday! Moreover to a stranger whom I've never seen"

"Who also happens to be the CEO of the wealthiest company here in our country and who's rumored to be drop dead gorgeous." Hotaru finished for her like it was the most obvious thing.

"It doesn't matter! It wasn't supposed to be this way. It was supposed to be: _love, engagement, marriage_ not _engagement_ and _marriage_ without _love._ " She whined. The raven sighed.

"How can they not even tell me anything about it until yesterday? Urgh! How the hell did this happen in the first place! This is the twenty-first century for god's sake! " she kept on ranting while hitting her head on the table again.

Hotaru meanwhile stared at the brunette who seemed to have lost her sanity.

"What's going on here?" came an energetic voice from behind the girls. They were then greeted by a pink haired girl, Anna and a dark blue haired girl, Nonoko.

Hotaru smirked before answering; "Mikan's PMS-ing" And immediately the brunette's head shot up before yelling, "NO I'm not".

"Okay, then why don't you tell us why it's gloomy around you." Said Nonoko while giving the brunette a curious glance. "Yeah, it's starting to creep me out" came Anna's ever so energetic voice with worry etched all over it.

Even before Mikan could open her mouth to share her dreadful news with some friends who actually might understand her sorrows, the homeroom teacher Narumi-sensei's voice was heard from the background. "My beloved students do take your seats! I've got a lo–vely surprise for you" He said giddily as he made his way to the front of the class.

"Unfortunately, Mr Jinno is sick so he won't be attending classes for a while" and the whole class suddenly roared with cheers. Jinjin was actually a scary person to deal with and having a free Mathematics period was like being in heaven temporarily. Just imagine having _no_ homework as huge as Mount Everest for a few days. Things just couldn't get better, until Narumi-sensei opened his mouth again, that was.

"Don't worry my dear children" he started completely oblivious to their happiness. "You'll be having a substitute teacher for a while" and everyone sighed with a dull look. And as on cue, in walked a tall young man with square spectacles and messy raven hair. Almost everyone gaped at the sight in front of them. There were exceptions of course. Mikan was still thinking a way to get out of her engagement nonsense while Hotaru was busy _glaring_ at the newcomer.

Finally when Mikan seemed to notice the uncomfortably silent environment around her, she looked around only to catch her friend still frowning and her fellow classmates mesmerized. It took her a while to notice the unfamiliar figure beside the teacher's table.

"I'm your new Math teacher Hyuuga-sensei, I expect you all to be in your best behavior." She heard him say. "Any questions?" He asked again while his gaze wondered randomly around the class. He paused for a while as his gaze met with a pair of hazel eyes which belonged to Mikan who decided to follow her train of thoughts. And within a minute, more than a half of the students in the class had their hands raised.

"Sensei, are you married?" Mikan heard Permy ask a stupid question. She was sure that the teacher would probably skip it and proceed, but she was wrong. The teacher simply lifted his hand up and waved it in front of the class while a little piece in the ring finger shone brightly. It was a gold ring.

"Anything else?" He asked. "Sensei, how old are you?" it was Wakako, Permy's friend this time. Mikan rolled her eyes. These people can't ask one decent question at all, she thought. It was true that their new teacher was smoking hot, but she was never going to admit it out loud. Plus she had other important stuff to get herself occupied with. She was also curious as to why Hotaru still kept staring or more like glaring at the teacher.

 _The last time I saw Hotaru actually looking at someone for more than ten seconds was like three years ago. He was a senior and three years older. He used to be known as the school prince. For some weird reason the whole school was anticipating the moment till he asked ME out! Ironic! I mean we were good friends and all. 'Why would he ask me out' was what I thought back then, but then he actually did ask me out and I declined the offer. It might seem rude, but according to my point of view Hotaru suited him more and he was like an older brother to me so, no way. I didn't manage to convince either Hotaru nor him to you know, go out with each other as they both had a well-known bad relationship. It's just that they don't see what I saw as a third person or so I believe_. Was what she thought as she stared at Hotaru.

"Miss Mikan Sakura" she heard someone say and it happened to be Hyuuga-sensei.

"Y-yes?" she asked while glancing around.

"Spacing out isn't something I tolerate so detention after school" she heard his deep voice.

 _What the hell!_ Did she just get detention? _NOO!_ She screamed in her head. "Do you understand?" She heard the same _annoying_ voice of her new math teacher.

She gulped the saliva stuck in her throat before answering, "Y-yes sir" in a low voice. One thing was for sure, Hyuuga sensei seemed worse than Jinjin. She frowned. Now she had another thing to worry, but nothing could ever beat her primary problem; being engaged to a complete stranger for twelve years.

"Idiot" she heard Hotaru mumble beside her.

:-:

Lunch break came after a very long Math period that Mikan felt like she was there for an eternity. Oh, the torture she went through! She was told to answer half of the math problems, by that annoying substitute. He never even spared her a couple of minutes to think. And even when she was almost there and screwed up a bit he would say; "Shame on you. Even someone from a primary class could answer that properly without messing it up." And then he would flash that irritating smirk which annoys the hell out of her. She tried her best not to twitch. And by the near end of the math period she lost her last string of patience and yelled at his face saying; "Let me think properly, you JERK!"

She could still picture the faces of her classmates when she had said that. Priceless. Permy was bowling her fists and fuming with anger while Hotaru had a victorious smirk. And well the substitute, Hyuuga sensei seemed a bit surprised at first, but recovered very fast and gave her DETENTION FOR A WEEK. _Just great_! (with sarcasm)

She banged her head on the cafeteria table for the nth time while sighing. "Stop that Mikan" she heard Hotaru say in-between munching her lunch which contained many dishes of crab- Crab roe, baked crabs, etc.

"But I can't! I've got detention for a freaking week!" she whinned.

"Good for you" they both heard Anna say as she took a seat beside Mikan.

"NO it's not. I don't want to look at that annoying face for an hour, sitting while doing nothing." Mikan said while pouting.

"Correction dear, it's supposed to be HANDSOME face for an hour" came Nonok's voice beside Hotaru.

"Oh no, not you too!" Mikan said while banging her head again.

And the conversation about the annoying math teacher and the handsome math teacher went on till the lunch break ended.

:-:

The last bell indicating the end of school rang sooner than she expected. She was now reluctantly making her way to the detention class along with Hotaru. She didn't expect that Hotaru might say yes when she asked her to walk with her, but she did and here they were in front of the said class. She looked at Hotaru thinking that she'd leave, but she kept on standing there looking at the closed door. Shrugging her shoulders Mikan opened the door.

And there he was, the jerk, her substitute Math teacher. He had his feet on top of the teacher's table while his head rested on his right arm. "You're late" he said, still with his eyes closed. Her eyebrows twitched. She looked at Hotaru, nodded before entering the class and taking a seat near the window at the very back. At least she had a distraction now. Hotaru kept standing at the door for a while glaring at the teacher.

"Do you need anything Miss Imai?" he asked, still with his eyes closed. How did he know that Hotaru was there even without looking? No idea.

"No. Call me when you get home Mikan" Hotaru said. She was still glaring at the teacher who didn't even budge. And then she was gone.

"Well then let's get this started" came Hyuuga sensei's voice as he opened his eyes and faced her.

She gulped.

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 **Hey, again. Hope you like it. Feel free to let me know what you think.**

 **Until we meet again, bye.**

 **Sue-chan**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi people, sorry for the wait. So here it is, chapter two. It may not be that lengthy, but do enjoy.**

 **I unfortunately don't own Gakuen Alice and you probably knew that right? :)**

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 _ **Chapter two**_

He was now sitting properly on his chair facing the front and she unfortunately was included in his view. On his table rested a file that was fully opened and it wasn't the reason for the fact that she was sweating so badly. The reason she was feeling uncomfortable was his penetrating gaze that she _knew_ was fixed upon her. It was suffocating and there was nothing she could do about it. She had her eyes set somewhere out of the window and far away. She was itching to look at the clock that was hanging on the wall, but that means she'd have to meet his gaze first. _Urgh!_ She wanted to get out of here, but she couldn't.

"Mikan Yukihara; the daughter of Mr. Izumi Yukihara a famous business tycoon. Hmm… I wonder why she's going by the name Sakura?" she heard him say. It was enough to make her look at him.

"How... did you…?" she barely managed the words out.

It was a secret. No body other than Narumi sensei, Hotaru, Anna, Nonoko and her uncle Kazu, the principal of this school were supposed to know. It was her choice in the first place to use her mother's maiden name to get through her high school life without receiving any special treatment and attracting much attention. It worked so far because she managed to lead a peaceful school life. But the new substitute who had been at school only for a couple of hours yet, found out?

"Tch, I have my ways. So why?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

He was now standing in front of the teachers table and leaning on it with both of his hands. His bangs were half way through his face that made him look like a celebrity, you know those famous young ones from bands, films and all. There was something different about him than this morning, but she just couldn't figure it out. Even though she was way at the back of the class and he was at the very front, she could still feel his body heat or was it just the intensity of the moment? She wasn't sure. Whatever it was, she didn't like it even a bit.

She silently looked at the time, only to find out that there was another half an hour more. She frowned and sighed afterwards. "It won't speed up just because you were staring at it" she heard him say and for some reason he sounded irritated _. Hello?_ She's the one who should be irritated here. So she decided to ignore his previous question like she had _tried_ to ignore his presence for the past thirty minutes and looked out of the window again. There wasn't anything particular to look at so she just stared at the sky, the sun that might set any minute and all the other random stuff. She was curious and wanted to find out his reaction when she ignored his question, but she wasn't going to spare him a glance. She wished that she had a keen sense like Hotaru at times like this, but unfortunately she didn't so there was no way she'd find out without looking his way.

She was sure that a lot of minutes might have passed by now, but she didn't feel like turning away from the window. Not that the scenes outside were captivating or anything, but because it was major uncomfortable. The silence was intense, but she knew that it was way better than having a conversation. How will she tolerate another few days of detention like this? She couldn't even Imagine it.

"Let's see what's out there, that managed to steal this little girl's attention" she heard him say and for some reason his voice was awfully close or at least closer than before. She twitched when she registered the fact that she was called 'a little girl'. She hated it when her cousin Tsubasa would call her my 'baby cousin' and 'little girl' was no different.

'I'm not a little girl' was what she was going to say, but her sentence stopped midway when she felt something brush her forehead as she turned. Soon her hazel eyes met a pair of crimson….? She jerked back fast when she realized that they were a pair of _crimson eyes_ that happened to belong to a certain teacher of hers. And it hit her, he wasn't wearing his spectacles.

His elbow stood on her table while his chin rested on top of his palm as he looked straight at her. It may have been the bangs that brushed her forehead, but she was more bothered by the fact that he was only a few inches in front. Her brain refused to function and she was all on her own to figure out her next move, which might as well include; helplessly staring. She could practically _hear_ her heart beating, probably because of the shock. It was still a mystery as to why she felt like she was in an oven and why her face felt like it was burning. Shock side effects? _Probably_. She knew that her eyes were as big as saucers as well.

"Time's up" she heard him say and she didn't waste any time to rush out of there. She grabbed her stuff as fast as she could and headed to the door like lightning. If her brother Youchi was there he would have called her Flash's sister.

"See you tomorrow" she heard him say as she stepped outside and she could practically picture him smirking along with it _. Urgh, the jerk_!

She let go of the breath she had unconsciously held when the classroom was nowhere in sight. She leaned on the wall for some time before she headed home. Detention sure was tiring. And she had another six more of it! Damn.

:-:

She felt her phone vibrate a few minutes before she headed to bed. It was Hotaru. Was there an emergency? Because Hotaru Imai wouldn't just call someone for nothing, even if that someone was her best friend.

"Hi Hotaru, what's up?" She asked her only to hear her sigh.

"Did you forget that you were supposed to call me –she increased her voice- _when you got home_?"

Gosh, she totally forgot. The detention class was so bothering that she even forgot all about her stupid engagement thing until her mother brought it up while dinner. She completely lost her appetite at that time that she left the dining table after making a huge fuss about the whole thing.

"I'm so sorry Hotaru, I forgot!" she said only to hear Hotaru sigh before calling her an idiot. She was used to that word so much that it was _almost_ like a compliment when it came from Hotaru.

"Come to the Starbucks" she heard her say.

"Starbucks! Now?! Hotaru I'm in my PJs!" she hurriedly replied.

"Tomorrow- idiot. In the morning at eight" was all Hotaru said before hanging up.

:-:

She was all set to go and have a chat with Hotaru with a nice cup of coffee. She stared at her reflection on her bedroom mirror. She looked like an ugly panda with the black bags that hung under her eyes. Unbelievable! Thanks to a certain someone from yesterday, she couldn't get an ounce of sleep as her eyes refused to close. And finally when they did close, her stupid alarm went off and ruined everything.

It didn't take long for her to reach Starbucks as it was only a few steps away from both hers and Hotaru's house. She saw Hotaru with her usual get up, a pair of jeans and a normal T-shirt, sitting in their usual spot which was far away from the door, the cashier and all the other tables.

She sat there with her Cappuccino after greeting Hotaru.

"So…?" she heard Hotaru ask her after the long silence that only contained the sounds of the both of them sipping coffee.

"So what?" She asked her startled.

"What happened during detention?"

"Oh! That? – she could again feel the unknown heat rising up her face – nothing?" she replied.

She saw Hotaru raise one of her eyebrows and give that what-are-you-hiding kind of face. So she told everything from him knowing her secret to the point where he said 'see you tomorrow' without leaving out anything. She also explained her side effects after the shocking moment and for some odd reason she saw Hotaru's lips tug upward into a smile? Or was it a smirk? She didn't quite understand what was so funny about it.

After the conversation about her detention, she brought up the fact as to why Hotaru happened to be staring at the substitute.

"I wasn't staring, I was glaring at him" Hotaru had corrected her.

Mikan nodded in an awe and asked; "Why?"

"Because, that man who sat at the teachers table the whole Math period is-"

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 **Chances are something people must have to make by themselves**

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 _BTW the proverbs and phrases I'm planning to include at the end of the chapters from today onwards have nothing to do with the story so don't get confused ;P_

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 **So how was it? Hope it was ok. Thank you all for reading, adding this to your favorites and for following this story.**

 **Analissa-** Hey, thanks again. Looks like you'll have to wait a little more to find out.

 **Lexi1989, Nikinora96-** Thanks. You too will have to wait to find out;) Hope you don't mind.

 **crybabyy, Timey Whimey Detecter, loveisfun, reader131313, Sakura Shiragiku-** Glad you like it. Hope this chap too met your standards.

 **Thank you all for reviewing.**

 **Until we meet again, bye.**

 **Sue-chan.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys! Glad you all like the story so far. Feel free to share your POVs as well. So here it is, the next chapter. Hope you'd like it. Sorry for the fairly late update.**

 **DISCLAIMER ; I DON'T OWN GAKUEN ALICE**

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 _ **Chapter three**_

"Is what?" Mikan interrupted.

"OMG don't tell me that he is an impostor; maybe someone who escaped prison, killed the original Hyuuga sensei and came to school as him?! I knew it! There was something weird about him!" she went on and on. Hotaru rolled her eyes and sighed.

"As I was about to say – Hotaru said annoyed - , that man who sat there at the teacher's table during Math also happens to be my idiot of a cousin, who was supposed to be on a vacation in Hawaii" Hotaru replied stoically.

"Oh?!" was the only word she said after listening to Hotaru.

And then she yelled; "That jerk of a teacher is YOUR COUSIN?!" after she managed to grasp the fact tightly.

Hotaru sighed before saying; "That is what I said just now so don't expect me to repeat it _again_ ".

"Unbelievable! You two have a lot in common though." Mikan said after she calmed down and got her head straight.

"Don't ever say that again if you wish to see the day light afterwards" Hotaru replied darkly and she nodded vigorously.

"I'm going to be richer" Hotaru suddenly said out of the blue. It got her curious as to how her friend is going to be richer than she already is. Hotaru was already filthy rich just like herself, being the second child of the Imais' who owned the 'Imai Technicians' and 'Imai Health Care Centre' and all. Hotaru's brother who happens to be a doctor runs the hospital while Hotaru might someday shoulder the Imai Tech shop.

"So you're going be the CEO of Imai Technicians from today?!" Mikan yelled with excitement. It was the only logical explanation to Hotaru's sudden outburst.

"Not really" Hotaru replied with her expressionless face, yet Mikan could practically see the glint in her eyes as she said; "Thanks to my _beloved_ cousin". Mikan anyhow didn't manage to notice how creepy Hotaru sounded when she said the word 'beloved'.

"I don't get it. How?" Mikan asked while titling her head to the side a little. Really, sometimes Hotaru and her random comments were confusing.

"You'll see" she heard Hotaru say before taking another sip of her coffee with that weird look. With all her experiences with Hotaru she could at least say that Hotaru Imai was up to something mischievous. She felt sorry for Hotaru's next victim who ever that was and wished that it wouldn't turn out to be herself. She even shuddered at that thought.

:-:

It was already Sunday, another day she started to hate since Friday. Sunday was the day before Monday as in the day before a series of torture that was meant to come her way during Math.

Dinner was the only meal the whole Yukihara family that consists of her father Izumi, mother Yuka, herself and her younger brother You-chan, could sit together and enjoy due to each other's busy schedules. It was also the time where the four of them discussed their daily plans, shared random gossip and all the other family stuff. It could also be called as a family bonding time. Normally she looked forward to spend more time with her family, but these days the only _fun_ topic according to her mother happens to be _her engagement_.

According to Hotaru the only way out of the engagement was; her decision after living together with this unknown fiance of hers. As in, after a month she's allowed to decide whether she should give more time and see or not. Just why don't these people understand that she could now itself say that she doesn't need any time at all to decide. Her decision was already finalized and that was- a big fat NO. Urgh! it's simply frustrating.

Things just get worse when your own mother plans your future wedding now itself at the dinner table. She gave up explaining to her mother that this was not going to work out, and decided to nod at everything she'd say instead. It was the easiest thing to do since her mother never gave up on something after she sets her mind into it.

She was freely stuffing her mouth with everything on her plate that would fit inside her mouth despite her mother's scolding that said something like; _eat properly like a lady now that you'll be married_ , when You-chan spoke.

"Will Mi-chan have little kids soon?"

She choked and spat everything out. Not a lovely sight to see, but it was an amusing one to Izumi. He who was silent the whole time decided to laugh out loud and was later joined by his wife. Youchi still had a clueless look while Mikan was all red and fuming with anger.

"Well that may be expected later dear" she heard her mother say with a glint in her eyes and somehow her mother resembled Hotaru.

Her father anyhow finally sided with her and said that the whole engagement thing was her call to make and that he was fine with her decision, only to receive a glare directed at him from her mom.

"Oh, honey I almost forgot!" came her mom's voice again. She looked at her mother indicating her to continue.

"We're all having a dinner at your fiance's house next weekend! Isn't it exciting?!" her mother squealed.

" _Oh great_!" she said with sarcasm.

"We would have been invited today itself, but he happens to be on a very important business trip. He's the CEO after all" her mother said with those dreamy eyes completely oblivious to her previous sarcasm.

"I'm not going to marry an old geezer you know" she said to her mom, only to earn a glare.

"Who told you about him being old?" she heard her ask.

"CEO of the wealthiest company; doesn't he sound old?" she stated as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Oh honey, he's just a bit older that's all" her mother said with that goofy smile of hers.

"It still sounds like an old geezer to me" she said. She was enjoying this; making her mom annoyed. Of course her mother wouldn't marry her off to some old geezer right?

"He's still twenty one, that means only three years older than you" she said looking really annoyed.

She choked _again_. A _twenty one_ year old CEO?! Is the economy and business world going insane? He is too young to be a CEO!

:-:

The ride from home to school seemed faster than her preference. The walk from the school gate to her class was actually the most difficult walk she had to make. She reminded herself to be careful not to run into anyone that would bring her bad luck and especially not a certain teacher of hers.

Trouble had a way of finding her no matter where she was. As she heard a couple of girls squeal loud, the previous statement was confirmed. Of course by now she knew that the squealing meant either one of the cool guys from her grade or above or Hyuuga sensei was heading that way. There's no way that she'd take _that_ corridor to get to her class. She looked around and saw a bend on her right a few steps in front. Another corridor that lead to her class which needed some extra walking though. It was the best way anyway so she quickened her pace and within a few seconds she was running towards it. Faster the better she thought, but she sure had a damn luck because just after she took the bend safely she hit a wall or maybe a door or something like that.

It sure did hurt, it was a wall after all what did she expect? She closed her eyes on time and waited for the fall that comes after the hit. It didn't hurt, but sure did produce a loud noise; a loud _bang_ on the floor was heard. _I sure must weight a lot to make a huge sound like that_ ; she thought.

She opened her eyes expecting to find herself lying on the floor even though she didn't feel the impact. And the first thing she saw happened to be a familiar pair of crimson eyes. Where did she see them before? was what she was wondering until she heard someone speak.

"You sure are an idiot and a klutz" he said.

"Hyuuga…..sensei?" she managed out of her mouth as she recognized the familiar figure pushing his spectacles up his nose bridge and letting go of her waist that he had been holding during the fall. She looked around with eyes as big as saucers wondering who took the fall instead of her, only to find a bundle of books and files on the floor. So that's what produced the sound, she figured.

She took a few steps back as soon as she realized the position the both of them were in. She had unconsciously placed both of her hands on his chest. Talking about awkward moments, this was a major one.

So the wall she had hit happened to be a human. Not just any human, the worst of them all.

"Will you mind?" he said, looking pointedly at the stuff on the floor.

He was expecting her to pick them up and she being a tube light was slow when it came to things like common sense. She just stood there staring at the stuff on the floor as well, wondering what he meant.

"Tch…. Pick them up- _idiot_ " he emphasized the last word and smirked when he saw her twitch.

"What if I don't want to?" she asked annoyed. It was amazing how this man in front of her could actually annoy her so much.

"You don't have a choice, either you pick them up now or later is up to you, but you WILL have to pick them up" he said with that look which some how said pick-them-up-or-die.

"Nope. I could leave them and - " she swallowed the rest as she saw him hold up some thing with his right hand which some how looked so much like her backpack.

"And what? run? You could, but I'll be keeping this." he said with that signature smirk of his.

Oh hell, it was _her_ backpack.

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 ** _THE CLOSER THE RELATIONSHIP, THE DEEPER THE SCARS RUN_ (** this has nothing to do with the story **)**

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 **Hi guys! So what will she do? Will she pick them up? Or just let him keep her stuff and leave? Who knows it's her choice, not mine. LOL**

 **Thank you all for reading, adding this to your favorites and for following this story so far.**

 **Anilissa-** Sorry for making you wait. Hope you enjoyed this update.

 **Lexi1989, Chewybillabong, Frozenbutterfly, Bukspiks, Sakura Shiragiku-** Glad you like it. Sorry for the fairly late update.

 **Nikinora96-** Thank you so much. So here it is, the next chap.

 **Timey Whimey Detecter-** I'm happy that you're happy, but sorry for not updating this chap much faster.

 **Rei-** You have a point there. _**Maybe**_ it's not symptoms of love **_yet_**. It could still be a lot of other things as well. You know maybe she felt extremely awkward or something like that. Maybe it could just be attraction. Either way, it's up to you readers to decide what she might have felt in situations like that ;) until I clarify things in the future chapters. Thank you so much for sharing your opinion.

 **loveisfun -** I'm relieved. Glad you like it.

 **EchizenRyoma-** Me too, but we'll have to see about that in the future chaps;) Who knows what could happen in the next chapters:)

 **Thank you all so much for reviewing and sharing your points of view as well;) It means a lot. I'll make sure to update the next chap much faster.**

 **Sue-chan**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys! Her's the next chap. I updated it much faster since you guys asked for it and to make up for the delay in the previous one. Do enjoy.**

 **DISCLAIMER; I SUE-CHAN, DON'T OWN GAKUEN ALICE.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter four**_

 _That jerk. Urgh! Why did it have to be my backpack of all the things?!_

She kept on glaring at the person in front of her who was now leaning on the wall behind him with his arms crossed. From his expression anyone could tell that he was actually enjoying all this.

"You know, I have the whole day, but you only seem to have another five minutes" he said, lifting one of his eyebrows.

She looked at her backpack again to clarify the fact he had it as a hostage and she saw him tighten his grip around its strap. Urgh! That annoying jerk of a teacher.

She sighed again before saying; "Fine" and bent down to pick up the things on the ground. Why does he have to carry so many books everywhere in the first place?

He too bent down to lend her a hand, which seemed more insulting to her. "Hey, I could pick them up by myself, thank you very much" she hissed.

He ignored her comment and went on collecting the loose papers that were shattered everywhere.

There was one more book to gather, a huge one. She picked it up so fast that she thought she heard it rip. _Oh please be okay_ ; she wished. She didn't want to have another punishment for ripping his book.

She turned her head around to check whether he was looking her way, only to see him busily gathering the scattered papers. _Phew! That was close_. She sighed.

Yet she just had to confirm the fact that the book was doing fine. So she slowly turned a few pages, more carefully this time. For once, fate hadn't been cruel to her. It was okay and unharmed. Just as she was closing the book once again, something caught her eye.

A photograph; of a little girl and a little boy holding hands. They were smiling at each other and they didn't seem to be aware of the fact that someone was capturing them in to a photo. She was just about to take a detailed view in, when someone snatched it away.

"Hey! I'm still not done looking at it!" she whined.

"Well, you don't have permission to look at it anyway" he replied before standing up and leaving her there, dumbstruck.

 _That was weird_ , she thought, as she stood up and looked for her backpack.

:-:

She was sweating and panting so badly when she reached her classroom. The good thing was she made it in exactly a few seconds before school started. The bad thing which could also be called as the worst thing of all was that her backpack and all her stuff were still with that BASTARD, the substitute.

Imagine the humiliation she faced, when she had to tell almost half of her class that, she had misplaced her own school bag! What else were there to say when someone asks; "Hey Mikan, where's your backpack and your books?" She couldn't possibly say that, "Hyuuga BASTARD sensei, stole it" It'll sound ridiculous.

After Hotaru narrowed her eyes at her petty excuse for not having any books, Hotaru finally decided to share her text books, which she was thankful of. And thanks to her dearest friend, she survived all the morning lessons without any books at all.

:-:

"So you're saying that, Hyuuga stole your backpack?" Hotaru asked amused.

It was already lunch break and Mikan kept on poking her meal- crabs, that she received courtesy to Hotaru's money. Of course she had to promise that she'd make it up to her with a bonus treatment, even when all of this was happening because of her cousin's actions.

She stabbed the crab that lay on her plate again with her fork as she sighed.

"What did that poor crab ever do to you? Either you eat it or quit stabbing it like that" Hotaru said in-between munching her own share of crabs which by the way contained many more portions than Mikan's.

"Urgh! Even after I picked everything up, he just left with my stuff- that bastard!" she growled.

"Just because you were frowning and scolding him while sitting here wouldn't bring your stuff back" she heard Hotaru say stoically.

"I know that! What else am I supposed to do?!" she sighed while stabbing the crab harder. She smiled apologetically when she saw Hotaru's eyes twitch.

"Go and get it back" Hotaru said as if it was the most obvious thing to do as Mikan looked at her quizzically.

:-:

 _Now where was the Math teacher's cabin again?_ She kept on thinking.

It was like she was willingly walking into a lion's cave, but she didn't have a choice. She can't possibly be a burden to Hotaru during the next subjects as well. So she was going to get back her stuff no matter what it took.

He wouldn't have hidden it right? He probably left for lunch so this was her chance to grab it and leave. He wouldn't even know that she was there. It was a simple plan that she was sure would work _._

 _Nothing could go wrong_ , she kept on thinking a she stood in front of the door that lead to Jinjin's lounge which was temporarily owned by the substitute.

She slowly poked her head inside first to make sure whether the cost was clear and it was. The lounge/cabin looked cleaner than before and quite different. She used to come here frequently to handover her additional assessments to Jinno sensei.

She looked around for her backpack, which unfortunately was nowhere in sight. Not even under the tables, chairs or cupboards. Where could he possibly have kept it? She had to find it and disappear before he came.

"Looking for this?" she heard a familiar voice ask and she didn't even have to turn around to see who that was. She gulped and turned only to see him leaning with one foot on the door frame while he held her stuff.

He walked in before closing the room door and standing beside it with that signature smirk of his.

"Give it back" she said as she crossed her hands in front of her chest with a frown.

"Come and take it, _IF YOU ACTUALLY CAN_ " was he purposely provoking her or did she actually lack in patience because she was really irritated now.

She walked up to him; to the right side of the door and reached for the bag. Of course she wasn't able to even touch it as Hyuuga was so damn tall and she was no match for his height. She was even on her toes yet it was still unreachable.

She was about to step on his foot hard, when the door on their side suddenly opened. If it opened with a huge force they would have been crushed since they were standing behind it.

:-:

She was sure that by now more than five minutes might have passed, but she was unable to neither move nor breathe. How could she, when his palm was covering both her mouth and nose. Even if it was not covered, she doubted if she would actually be able to breathe anyway due to the position she was in.

Her back was pressed against his front and his right hand was covering her mouth and nose while his left was halfway around her waist. She could practically feel him breathe as his chest moved up and down rapidly.

For this little while, her forehead was covered in sweat and her face felt as if it was burning, due to the lack of air _probably_.

 _What the hell?_ ; Was the only thought that circulated her brain as the both of them stood there motionless.

The door was ninety degrees opened and while the both of them hid behind one side, on the other side stood two students waiting for Hyuuga sensei to arrive after his lunch break.

What she still didn't understand was as to why Hyuuga sensei was too, hiding from those girls when they're actually here to meet him. She was capable of hiding by herself yet here they were cramped in a little space without any air to breathe.

"Should we just leave this here and go?" she heard one girl ask.

"You can't. Not after all the effort you put into making that bento for Sensei" the other girl replied.

She couldn't help, but raise an eyebrow. A bento? For a jerk-bastard like him? Unbelievable!

"We should have come earlier" the previous girl replied while sighing.

"Yeah. Should we go inside and wait?" She heard the other girl ask.

 _INSIDE? Oh, please no!_ She pleaded in her head. The last thing she wanted was to be seen by someone in this kind of a position.

And the bell rang. She couldn't be happier when she heard it, that she immediately relaxed. There was an awkward silence for a while before she was freed from the tight grip.

After taking a few steps forward, farther away from him she turned around to get herself out of here. For some reason she couldn't even look at him straight.

There was another awkward silence before she cleared her dry throat and said; "I'll be going" and left immediately. Even though she was in a hurry to breathe tensionless fresh air, she didn't fail to notice how his neck had turned pink. At least she wasn't the only one who felt uncomfortable because of the lack of air.

She ran all the way to her classroom and was overjoyed to find that the teacher wasn't there yet. Hotaru raised an eyebrow as she took a seat beside her.

"Where's it?" she heard Hotaru ask.

"Where is what?" she asked surprised all the while trying to catch her breath.

"Your stuff- dummy" she heard her say. Damn! She had really forgotten all about it! She slapped her forehead and asked; "What's the next subject?" only to hear her say; "Math"

:-:

She got her stuff back even without a fight and she wished that she didn't get them back because the way she got them was terrifying. Just imagine- Hyuuga sensei walks into the class for the next subject amidst the squeals from his new fans and say; "Miss Mikan, you've left your bag with me"

 _Urgh!_ Half of the class, as in almost the whole female population in the class turned and glared at her.

 _Go die BASTARD!_ She screamed in her head.

:-:

The sweet aroma of coffee that was always in the air was one of the main things that she liked about Starbucks. She was seated in front of Hotaru at her usual spot sipping her now cold cappuccino. They normally visited Starbucks on weekends and sometimes Anna and Nonoko would join as well.

Yet, today after her detention with that guy, she decided to treat Hotaru out so she could cool her head off and get rid of her debt to her soon as well.

She squeezed her coffee cup as she recalled that day's events.

That day at class;

After he had caused all the ruckus and left, Permy and her newly formed 'Hyuuga-sensei-FAN CLUB' members had surrounded her table to _interrogate_ her about her detention last Friday. If not for Hotaru's scary face and creepy threat, they would have skinned her alive for _PURPOSELY_ -according to them- leaving her stuff with Hyuuga senssi.

And by the end of the day she was ready to beat him down, but ended up getting stuck in solving more than a hundred of equations. Maybe not that much, but you get the picture right? It's because he had said that, until she solves ALL of them, she'd be stuck with him. She tried to open the door and leave, but after a few minutes of pointless struggling she got to know that only he had the key.

She was glad that he kept the distance during the whole time. She didn't boldly go and beat him because she had nowhere to run afterwards.

:-:

She noticed Hotaru counting something that looked like money after finishing off her own cappuccino.

"What is that?" she asked curiously.

"Some gift vouchers I got from Hyuuga" Hotaru replied with that creepy glint in her eyes.

"Why?" she asked supprised.

"For keeping all his secrets" Hotaru said while smirking.

She was going to ask more about that topic, but was interrupted by someone.

"Mikan-san?" came a monotone from behind.

* * *

 ** _Hiding your heart is a lot harder than not knowing it._**

* * *

 **Hi guys! So here is the next chapter. To make up for the delay before, I uploaded this much faster. Who do you think they might have met?**

 **Thank you all so much for reading, adding this to your favorites and for following this story.**

 **Analissa-** I admire your patience. Do stay tuned.

 **Timey Wimey Detecter-** Thank you and glad you like it.

 **bukspiks, Sakura Shiragiku-** Thanks guys. So here's the next update.

 **frozenbutterfly-** Thank you so much and sorry to keep you waiting.

 **Nikinora96-** Do keep on guessing till I reveal his identity in the future ;-p

 **chewybillaong-** Yup, you're totally right.

 **loveisfun-** Thank you. So here it is, the next chap.

 **Thanks a lot guys for reviewing and sharing your ideas.**

 **Sue-chan**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys! Hope I didn't make you wait for too long. Here's the next chapie. Do enjoy.**

 **DISCLAIMER; I DON'T OWN GAKUEN ALICE.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter five**_

Both of them turned around only to see a fairly tall blonde guy in his twenties waving at Mikan while smiling brightly.

It took her a while to recognize the figure in front of her, who was dressed in his casual clothes; a normal denim and polo shirt.

"Ruka-pyon?" she asked doubting her eyes.

"The one and only" he said while walking towards their table. He seemed oblivious to Hotaru's presence until he was invited to sit with them.

"I-Imai san?" he asked as his happy expression turned into something like he saw a ghost or worse, when he finally noticed her.

"Hello Nogi" Hotaru said while giving one of her blank looks and somehow Ruka's expression only turned worse. Was that even possible?

Mikan noticed Ruka's hesitation to sit next to either one of them, so she offered her seat which was in front of Hotaru and sat next to Hotaru. He smiled in return and slowly took a seat. There was an awkward silence for a while until Mikan decided to break it off.

"You still look the same Ruka-pyon, even after three years!" she said with amazement.

Ruka somehow turned a light shade of pink before answering; "T-thanks?"

"Sure. So are you waiting for someone?" she asked seeing him look at the entrance a couple of times.

"Yeah, I'm waiting for Natsume" he replied while looking at Hotaru for the first time after taking a seat in front of her. Hotaru's stoic expression didn't change as she sat there silently.

"Natsume? Is that the name of your girlfriend perhaps?" Mikan asked excited. It had to be his girlfriend.

She saw him turn red all of a sudden before saying; "No-no-He's my best friend, I don't have a girlfriend"

"He? Oh! You mean it's not a girl? I wanted to meet her, too bad" she replied while pouting.

Wait a second, if he's single then she could try to pair him up with Hotaru again and this time it would work! Maybe his friend would help too, whoever he is. She smiled at the thought and she saw Hotaru give her one of the don't-you-even-dare looks. She gulped _. Oh, how did she know what I was thinking?_ She kept on wondering.

She heard Ruka call out to someone who just entered Starbucks. "Over here Natsume" And then she heard footsteps from behind. She just couldn't wait to meet Ruka-pyon's friend and discuss her plans on PROJECT HR (Hotaru+Ruka)

However she wasn't expecting his friend to appear in a hoodie and sunglasses. He looked as if he was here to rob the place. She could barely even see his face.

Just as Ruka was about to introduce him to her, he spoke; "Oi, what are you doing here?" the question was directed at her.

Did she know him from somewhere? Now, why did his voice sound awfully familiar? She kept on wondering. She looked at Hotaru hoping to get a clue only to see her smirking. Knowing very well that asking her would do no good she decided to ask the mysterious _man with a hoodie_ , straight away.

"I'm sorry do I know you?"

She heard him say; "Tch…IDIOTIC KLUTZ" He sounded annoyed. Her eyes widened as realization dawned upon her. He took off his weird sunglasses making things worse and she felt a sudden chill down her spine as his crimson eyes looked straight at her.

"YOU! Hyuuga!" She yelled as she pointed her index finger at him. And as always, he smirked. "Hello Polka" he replied.

"Polka? What do you mean?" she asked titling her head, unable to figure out where that wired name came from.

"Tch…..polka dots?! You really do have a bad taste" he replied mischievously and her eyes widened.

"How…..did… you?" she almost yelled. It was the pattern of her bra she wore to school today.

"You're the one who showed it to me" he replied confidently with that arrogant smirk of his.

"When did I? Urgh! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! YOU PERVERTED BASTARD!" She yelled so loudly that the whole café turned silent.

She saw Hotaru give that 'what's-all-that-about' look but she was just too pissed to reply to her. She couldn't believe that this pervert in front of her was even a teacher.

"Umm… do you two know each other?" Ruka who kept silent the whole time asked with a curious look.

Neither of them seemed to show any interest to answer his question as they were busy glaring at each other.

"Nogi, this idiot- while pointing at Mikan- is my best friend and that idiot – while pointing at Natsume- is my cousin; of course it's natural for them to know each other." Hotaru stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Ruka looked baffled and yet he nodded.

"So what business do you two have _here_?" Hotaru questioned still with her stoic face making sure to stress the word 'here'.

"Natsume wanted to-" Ruka was cut off by Natsume as he said; "Tch…for some fresh air and it's none of your business Imai".

"Really?" Hotaru lifted one of her eyebrows and she seemed to be holding back her smirk.

Ruka who might have sensed the growing dark atmosphere between the two cousins, suddenly started a conversation with the oblivious Mikan.

"So Mikan …." Was all that was needed to say and both Hotaru and Natsume turned to look at him as if he had done a crime.

"I was just going to ask her whether she'd like to eat something" Ruka replied looking at them uneasily.

"No thanks Ruka-pyon" Mikan smiled at him, still oblivious to her surroundings.

"PYON?" Natsume said distastefully and scoffed. Mikan glared at him.

"Ruka, how do you know Polka?" she heard him ask.

"Umm….. from school" Ruka replied and after a few seconds she added; "Don't call me Polka, I have a name you see"

"Tch….. whatever _POLKA_ " He smirked arrogantly and she kicked his leg from under the table.

Even after a couple of silent minutes, the glaring between Mikan and Natsume, Hotaru's stoic expression and Ruka's awkward stare remained.

"Don't step on my foot _Hyuuga_ " Mikan said darkly, braking the uncomfortable silence.

"I will- when you stop kicking me, Polka"

"Stop calling me POLKA" she hissed.

"When you stop with the word Hyuuga" he replied nonchalantly.

"Can the both of you stop this childish bickering?!" Hotaru growled and then sighed.

It was silent again and back to the awkward atmosphere. Mikan was struggling to remove her foot from Natsume's clutch while Natsume pretended that he was not stepping on anyone's foot and kept on sipping his black coffee. Ruka however kept staring at Mikan who was busy frowning, while sipping his own cappuccino. All of this was a good entertainment for Hotaru as she regretted not bringing her brand new Samsung Galaxy Camera with her.

:-:

The two guys left early due to some important work they said and Mikan couldn't be happier than she was then. Thanks to a certain someone's presence she couldn't even enjoy her reunion with Ruka-pyon properly. She was now both annoyed and frustrated.

Before Natsume had left the café, he bent down to tie his already nicely tied shoelaces again beside her chair and that's when she was told; "The next time we hug, please wear something more attractive" She had felt her face heating up again as she heard his words.

She was so pissed afterwards when she had actually realized what he had meant, that she had grabbed her empty cappuccino cup to smack him, but he was already way out of reach. Yet she threw it at him and unfortunately it had hit Ruka-pyon square on his face when he had turned around to wave at her.

She could still picture Ruka's shocked face and Hyuuga's mocking smirk. Urgh! "There won't be another time" she yelled. Hotaru seemed to be silently enjoying everything as she looked amused by all the incidents that happened. However after everything turned calm again, Hotaru had narrowed her eyes and had confronted her about _EVERYTHING_.

:-:

"Good morning everyone!" She greeted as she entered her classroom.

It was the next day already and she had decided to stop being gloomy about everything so far and go back to being her usual cheerful self. Believe her; it _so_ was _not_ an easy thing to do.

"Good morning Mikan-chan" Yuu Tobita the class president greeted.

"Glad to have you back" Yuu added.

"Huh? … I came to school all these days Inchou -the nick name Yuu was given since middle school- so what do you mean?"

"Yeah, it's just that you were gloomy these days, but today you seem like your normal self again"

"Oh! Thanks" she said while smiling brightly at him and taking her usual seat.

"We were so worried that we even arranged you a surprise Mikan-chan" Yuu added from her front. Yuu was seated a couple of seats in front of her.

"Really?" she asked excited.

"Now-now Inchou, be more responsible and please don't spoil our surprise" came Kitsume's voice from the door.

Yuu and Kitsume were two of her good friends from middle school. She could still picture them along with Koko- another good friend of hers and to be more precise her first friend ever, play pranks on almost everyone. Even on Hotaru. They didn't dare to do another on her again, after what Hotaru did to them after their prank. She smiled at the memory.

Come to think of it, Koko hadn't been in touch with her for a year already. He used to call her every day back then when he had transferred to a school in the suburbs due to his father's business.

"My dear students please take your seats" Came Narumi sensei; the homeroom teacher's voice.

"We have a new student joining our class. Please be nice to him as well" she heard him say as a guy immediately walked in.

All the girls stared at him; he had muddy brown hair and grayish-green eyes. He was fairly tall; taller than her actually and had bangs covering half of his face. She rolled her eyes as she saw most of the girls drooling and gaping.

"Hello everyone, I'm Kokoro Yome – call me Koko. I don't need anyone's help as I could take care of myself perfectly" he said while scanning the whole class. He smiled as he spotted the brunette.

Mikan thought her eyes would fall out as she saw the person in front of her. It was actually Koko. That idiot had said the same thing when he had introduced himself first at kindergarten as well. She remember smacking him at the back of his head for saying so and they had been good friends ever since.

"Let's find Koko-kun a seat shall we?" Narumi sensei said while scanning the class for a vacant spot. He was later seated a few seats behind Mikan and Hotaru.

Narumi-sensei left immediately since the first subject was Math. She completely forgot her hate for the math period as she and Koko kept exchanging notes till the teacher came in. They had so much to talk about.

:-:

Natsume walked in to the class and immediately spotted his target. He was surprised to find her not banging her head on her table like she used to. Was she not well today?

If she was okay, she would normally react when he walks in, but today she didn't even notice him. He began the lesson and gave an activity for the class to work on. He was planning to bring the brunette to the board and make her solve another couple of hard questions and annoy her, but his eyes twitched as he noticed a paper ball flying towards her. He soon noticed the brunette throwing it back AGAIN to the muddy-brown haired guy.

Was he a new kid?

* * *

 _ **PEOPLE BECOME STRONGER WHEN THEY HAVE SOMEONE TO PROTECT.**_

* * *

 **So how was it? Hope you like it (?) Thank you so much for reading, adding this to your favorites and for following this story.**

 **Anallisa-** Nice guess. Thanks a lot.

 **Chewybillabong-** I hate cliffhangers too, but when I'm in charge of writing I love to end with them. You might have noticed it by now;)

 **Lexi1989, loveisfun, Sakura Shiragiku-** Thank you so much **.**

 **Nikinora-** Thanks for the compliment. Glad you enjoyed it

 **Timey Wimey Detecter-** Thank you. Don't worry I won't be leaving any of my stories undone.

 **bukspiks-** Glad you like it. There will be more in the near future so hope you'd keep tuned in;)

 **Haruhi-chan131-** You'll have to wait and see. Don't worry, they'll find out pretty soon;)

 **Thank you so much for reviewing. It means a lot. And sorry again for the delay. Do keep tuned in.**

 **Sue Chan**.


	6. Chapter 6

**So here it is, my sixth chapter. Do enjoy and feel free to tell me anything.**

 **DISCLAIMER; I DON'T OWN GAKUEN ALICE.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter six**_

 _ **You look pretty with your hair down-K**_

Was written on the crumpled paper ball that hit her. She looked around only to find Koko waving at her with a wide grin. She smiled back at him and mouthed 'thank you'. Actually she was expecting an apology from him first, for not keeping in touch with her and for not even answering her calls. She only called once and she was so pissed when he didn't answer it that she never called again. But then again, she wouldn't mind receiving a compliment first either. She used to wear her hair in two pig tails during Elementary school and she switched it in to a hair bun during Middle school. The reason she wears her hair down now a days was because of the lack of time in the mornings to do her hair.

 _ **Where's my apology Mr.I-can't-even-be-bothered-to-call-my-friend-nor-answer-her-calls?-M**_

She looked around and saw Narumi sensei marking the attendance. The cost was clear so she crumpled the paper again and threw it at him. In a couple of seconds she got a reply scribbled in the middle of the same paper.

 _ **So sorry. Long story. I promise to make it up to you with a bonus-K**_

She smiled again. She heard Hotaru sigh before mumbling; "Can't you two talk properly after class?"

"Nope" she grinned before scribbling down her own reply.

 _ **You better. Welcome back. BTW what brings you here? Were you the surprise Inchou and Kitsu mentioned earlier?-M**_

She saw him reading her note and writing a reply on it. Meanwhile the next subject teacher came in and was already writing something on the board. Not like she was listening anyway. She was so impatient to receive Koko's reply that she didn't even look up to see who the teacher was.

 _ **Thanks. You. Yup-K**_

She titled her head to the side a little, still unable to understand what he had meant by 'you'.

 _ **?-M**_

She threw it back at him and pretended to stare at the text book in front of her which was by the way English, Narumi sensei's subject. "Now's Math you idiot" she heard Hotaru mumble from her side. She smiled sheepishly before closing the book and opening her Math book.

 _ **I was worried-K**_

Worried? She wasn't even sick. And then she remembered Yuu saying how worried they were when she was gloomy and all. They probably might have told Koko. All of the trouble was just because of a simple mood swing of hers. It was good to have him back anyway. She smiled.

 _ **It was just a mood swing. You were worried for nothing-M**_

She wrote and threw the paper at Koko. However she was not expecting that a hand out of nowhere would catch it first. She looked up from her seat, only to find a pair of crimson eyes staring at her. She felt a sudden chill as she gulped the huge saliva ball that suddenly formed in her throat.

"I'll be taking this" said his voice that somehow sounded colder than usual.

"Why don't you explain yourself _Miss Sakura_ " She shuddered at the sound of his voice. The way he addressed her somehow seemed different. Her throat was already dry and she wasn't sure whether she wants to even answer his question.

"Umm…. I…." She began. His cold stare was already creeping her out. She felt like an illegal drug dealer who was caught red-handed by the police, but then again do drug dealers actually feel this way? She had no idea.

"It was my fault sensei." She heard a familiar voice from behind. Koko?

"Totally my fault" she heard him say firmly. "Well then-" came Hyuuga senseis voice again. Oh no, Koko was going to take the blame by himself.

"No! It's actually my fault. I'm so sorry" she yelled without thinking twice. She heard Hyuuga sensei sigh before looking at the both of them. He looked as if wanted to strangle someone or it could just be her imagination.

"Miss. Sakura, your punishment will be given during detention and Mr. Yome, I'll let you off the hook for today regarding the fact that it's your first day here. Make sure that this-he said while squeezing the paper ball- will never happen again." He turned around and was about to head back to the teachers table when Koko spoke again.

"Give me detention as well sir"

She thought she saw Hyuuga sensei's eyes twitch before he turned around to look at Koko again.

"I will do the deciding here and my decisions are final. Now turn to the next page everyone" he said before heading back to the board and continuing the lesson as if nothing happened.

Anyhow she knew that it was not just her imagination about the fact that Hyuuga sensei looked irritated and angry the whole while. It was just a paper ball for god's sake! Okay, maybe she's at fault here, but he could at least stop sounding icy-cold and scary.

She didn't even want to imagine how her detention today would turn out to be.

:-:

She took a deep breath in before entering the detention class. She was already a few minutes late.

It was because it took a lot of time to make Koko understand that detention was already in her time table even before his arrival to this school. He was going to tag along with her, but after Hotaru mumbled something in his ear he backed off and disappeared off to somewhere. Hotaru wouldn't even tell her what she told him, but she was grateful to her or otherwise she'd get more delayed. Why was she even bothered to get to detention on time anyway? She wasn't sure either.

It was however a massive shock to find the detention class empty and an even more shock to find the board at the front empty as well. Actually she was expecting a huge number of mathematic equations waiting to be solved, written on the board for her. And she was also expecting to find a certain raven haired guy sitting on the teachers chair with his feet on the table, head resting on his right arm with his _mesmerizing- no scratch that-_ taunting creepy crimson eyes closed.

Was the detention class today, cancelled? If it was, she should feel happy right? And she shouldn't feel wired right? Then why does she actually feel wired? She let go of the breath she had held in, before entering the class. She looked around for a few seconds and spotted a paper with bend marks everywhere lying open on the teachers table. Of course it was _that_ paper ball. She turned around after sighing loudly and almost yelled in shock at the figure in front of her.

It was Hyuuga sensei, leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed.

"OMG I thought you were a ghost for a couple of seconds." She said while sighing in relief.

He lifted an eyebrow bemused. "I'm honored".

There was an awkward silence or at least she felt pretty awkward that she turned around again and headed towards her usual desk, way at the back.

"Where do you think you're going?" she heard him say before grabbing her wrist. She felt electrified.

Why? Because he was tightly holding her wrist that the nerves there are unable to function properly-p _robably_. She was also learning Biology as well so she _knew_ she was right. She had to be. Yet she still couldn't understand why she felt like there was a knot in her stomach. After wracking her brain for an answer and unable to come up with one, she finally noticed that she was being pulled by her hand towards the school car park. What the hell?

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" She called out while sighing. How did she not notice that she had been dragged out of the detention class and out of the huge school building towards the school car park already by the guy who's walking in front of her holding her wrist? Was she that engrossed in her thoughts?

"What now Polka?" she heard him say, still continuing to drag her.

"Where are we going?" It was a lame question, she knew that it was towards the car park, but hey maybe there's a secret hidden punishment place somewhere near the car park? Impossible. She shacked her head. She knew this school like the back of her hand and she never came across a place like that. OMG maybe he wants her to wash all the cars there?! Yes, that might be her punishment.

Still, why were they standing in front of a blue _open-top Mercedes_? Needn't to say, it was also the brand newest model. Wow, it looked so shiny. Okay maybe shiny is too childish and certainly not the perfect word to describe such a lovely car, but she just couldn't come up with a better word.

"Oi, stop drooling" she heard his voice from her right.

"I wasn't" she said defensively.

"Get in" she heard him say. Is he insane?

"Huh?! Don't tell me you're stealing this" she practically yelled.

"Tch…..This is MY car, so why would I?" Her eyes widened. HIS car? No way. How could a teacher afford such a car? I didn't mean to offend anyone, but is it possible?

"I'm a teacher, not some beggar" he said as if he read her thoughts and ushered her to get in already.

"Sorry" she smiled apologetically. "Wait, why should I get in, in the first place?"

"Because I said so" his tone was as if he was explaining something so obvious to a five year old.

She lifted an eyebrow. "I'm on D-E-T-E-N-T-I-O-N" she said highlighting the word detention.

"Like that's something to be proud of" He looked irritated. His eyebrows were furrowed together and his frown didn't match his perfectly outlined face. Oh, what was she thinking? Just ignore the 'perfectly outlined' part, she was meant to think 'ugly' face. Come to think of it, was it just her imagination or were his eyebrows actually shorter than the normal length?

"What are you staring at?" he suddenly snapped. "Nothing." She mumbled, looking away.

"Are you getting in or not?" she heard him ask. His voice sounded edgy. "Nope"

Why should she? She's on detention. Was he planning to actually take her to the police as an additional punishment for communicating through a paper ball during lessons? Oh dear, now that doesn't sound good. She should just make a run and save herself. She then felt the grip around her hand tighten. She actually forgot that running was not an available option at the minute. Oh hell.

"This is detention." He said while practically making her sit inside and closed the door afterwards.

:-:

Fifteen minutes had already passed and she still doesn't have a single clue of the place they're headed to. At least it wasn't the police station because they've already passed by it ten minutes ago. She gave up asking the guy in the driving seat, a.k.a. Natsume Hyuuga of their destination as he wouldn't say anything more than; "This is your detention punishment" She had asked him more than a ten times already and it was all she got.

She slowly turned her head to her side to sneak a peek at him, only to hear him ask; "What?"

"Nothing" she shacked her head and looked out of the window again. She had already stopped imagining what she'd get to do as her detention punishment because it only makes her feel sick and sicker.

However, the car ride was fantastic and she loves the car to bits. Not that she'd say any of it out loud. Natsume was zooming past the almost empty roads with a very calm expression. Not something she'd seen on him before. Weird.

The wind was brushing past her face and it felt like heaven. Almost heaven because a tiny voice inside her still says that her punishment is not something she should look forward to. She breathed in the fresh air that had a flowery scent along with a mint scent. Mint? Where did that come from? She looked around and it hit her that it was from him. How come she never noticed it before?

Her train of thoughts was interrupted as the car suddenly came to a stop and she was so damn scared to look ahead at the building in front of her, whatever it was. It was the place where she'd get her punishment.

"Let's go" she heard him say as he unfastened his own seat belt and looked at her. She was NOT going to look at the building in front and she was certainly NOT getting out of this car. She heard him sigh. He could as well sigh a thousand times but she was not moving a muscle.

How did the minty smell turn stronger? She wondered and lifted her head, to see his face only a few inches away from her. What the hell was happening? And truth to be told, she actually was unable to move a muscle at all, not to mention the brain freeze she was now experiencing.

She stared at him dumbly as his face came closer and closer. She was sure that by now her eyes were as big as saucers and she could practically _hear_ her heart beat. She held her breath as his face went past hers. His bangs slightly brushed her skin as he leaned towards her more. What the hell was he doing? Her forehead was already covered in sweat. And a click was heard. _A click?_ What was that?

"Your seatbelt" he said while smirking and leaning back on his seat again. She was flustered and almost died of shock. She got off the car even before he could blink and took a deep breath of tensionless, mint-less fresh air. This was just too much for her to handle.

She turned around and gaped at the sight of the building in front of her.

WHAT THE HELL?!

* * *

 _ **LOVE IS ALWAYS READY TO EXCUSE, TO TRUST, TO HOPE AND TO ENDURE WHATEVER COMES**_

* * *

 **Hi people! Hope it was okay(?) Thank you so much for reading, adding this to your favorites and for following this story xoxo**

 **Nikinora96-** Thank you so much. Glad you like it:)

 **Anilissa-** Yup,looks like they were close. So here's the next update. Hope you enjoyed it.

 **Loveisfun-** Can't wait to write it as well.

 **bukspiks, Lexi1989, Sakura Shiragiku, Timey Wimey Detecter-** Seems like jealousy. We'll see how he expresses it in the next chapters shall we? ;) Thanks guys.

 **Thank you sooooo much for reviewing. Keep tuned in for the next update guys.**

 **Sue-chan**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi people, here's the next chapter. Do enjoy.**

 **{ Sakura Shiragiku –** Just as you've asked, I've included more Natsume's POVs ;) Do enjoy **}**

 **DISCLAIMER; I don't own Gakuen Alice**

* * *

 _ **Chapter seven**_

He was beyond annoyed. He wasn't sure whether it was mainly because a certain brunette wasn't paying attention to his lesson or the fact that she was giggling stupidly at the things written on the paper ball that had been flying in the air for a while. Who was he fooling here- it was due to both of the reasons. He shuffled his already messy hair and looked at the crumpled paper on his desk. It had been there for a while now, near his nerdy pair of glasses. He never liked those glasses in the first place, but decided to wear them anyway to look unattractive. Tch, girls these days have good eyes so a pair of hideous glasses wasn't enough.

He sat properly on his chair after taking his feet off the table. He was now ready to read the paper ball without lighting it on fire with his lighter. He always kept a lighter with him, so he could burn the unwanted documents then and there and get rid of them.

' **You look pretty with your hair down-K'**

Was written in untidy cursive letters on the top of the paper. His eyes twitched. _Tch, she is pretty even without her hair down._ After surpassing his urge to crumple the paper again, he read the next sentence. It was written neatly in its own style, a writing style he knew better than his own handwriting. His lips tugged upwards a little. It still looked the same as before, but a little neater and smaller in size. She had demanded an apology and this guy had promised to make it up with a bonus as well. He kept eying the written conversation and a certain word caught his attention.

' **\- you -'**

It didn't give off a nice vibe. Whoever this new kid was, he didn't like his reason as to why he was here. _It's just a kid;_ he reminded himself, but he still felt uneasy. He had to make a move fast. He took out his apple iPhone 6plus and started texting the last person he'd willingly contact, Imai.

After a couple of minutes the school will be over, commencing detention. He kept glancing at his phone for it to light up signaling that he got a reply. Which it did a couple of times, but each time it was either his secretary or someone from home. And finally the text read- **IMAI.** He didn't spare a second to open it and glanced through it within milliseconds. He was used to reading long documents within a couple of seconds so a mere text was nothing and to be more precise Imai's texts hardly contained more than two or three words just like his own texts. He smirked after reading it and stood up immediately. Asking his cousin something was costly, but it's worth it.

:-:

She pinched herself and it stung pretty badly, which was clearly enough for her to believe that she was not dreaming. Still it was unbelievable. She was walking inside the biggest shopping complex in the area along with Hyuuga-sensei. She repeated it a couple of times inside her head and it even sounded pretty odd.

She tried to figure what a 'shopping mall' has to do with 'detention' and 'punishment', but she failed miserably. The four words can't be even written in the same sentense. It was creeping her out more because Hyuuga was wearing a brown leather jacket with a hoodie and sunglasses. It was the same weird get up as the day she met him and Ruka at Starbucks.

"Oi, stop staring" she heard him say as he walked casually a few steps ahead. She nodded. It still didn't make any sense as to what they were doing here and asking him was like talking to a wall so she continued to walk along. He abruptly stopped and she bumped her forehead on his back.

"Ouch" she mumbled as she moved a few steps back after realizing what she hit.

"Watch where you're going Polka"

"Sorry." She had already drained all her energy to guess why she was here of all places, that she was too tired to argue about the fact that he called her Polka.

She suddenly felt a light grip on her wrist and she found herself inside a clothes shop. Dresses were almost everywhere. The shop was painted in pastel colors and there were a lot of frilly items she found hard to identify. Okay so now she's shocked.

Why would Hyuuga sensei the jerk bring her to a dress shop for her detention punishment? She gulped the huge saliva ball stuck in her throat.

"How may I help you sir" came a highly sugar coated voice. She tried not to twitch as she slowly looked at the sales lady who was now busy looking at Hyuuga sensei.

"Help her- he looked at Mikan- find a wearable dress" she noticed that his voice suddenly turned cold and professional as he addressed the sales lady. And the sales lady looked a bit disappointed as if she expected him to reply to her in a better way and headed off towards a rack of dresses after nodding.

Mikan still looked awe struck. When she finally came to the conclusion that she was here to help him buy a dress for his sister- she assumed that the girl who was in the picture she saw once might be his sister- he tells the sales lady that it was for her. Isn't it confusing? Why would she need a dress?

"Umm… I don't think I need a dress" she commented. He was doing something with his phone and completely ignored her.

"Hey, I said that I don't want a dress" she yelled loud enough in his ear and he turned to look at her as if she was some preschooler who said no to candy.

She smiled victoriously thinking that she had got her point across to him.

"Tch, it's part of your punishment" He smirked.

Okay, how on earth is buying a dress, a punishment? Unless, that dress is hideous and super ugly and you have to sing a crazy song while dancing in a public place, wearing it. Now that's something. She doubted whether this cute place had any dresses like that in the first place.

The sales lady came to her again holding a pile of dresses. She was so not going to try all of them on, just to take them off again in order to try the other one. It would be tiring. She gulped and looked at Hyuuga sensei. He had this aren't-you-going-to-try-them-on-yourself-or-do-you-need-any-help?- kind of expression. She sighed. It was better to get it over with, before he actually offered any help.

She took the dresses from the sales lady and headed towards the changing room.

"Try everything on and show me. I'll be choosing." She heard him say and she dropped dead on her tracks. WHAT?! He had to be joking right? There's no way she'd come out of the changing room wearing any of these dresses.

"You don't have a choice, Polka. You're on _detention_ " He exaggerated the last word.

:-:

This was like the nineteenth dress she wore within these two and a half hours. Each time she came out wearing a dress, he'd either look like he had eaten something bad and shake his head or would look at her from head to toe as if she was an alien and frown.

At least now she can see this as a punishment and more – a torture. To tell the truth, most of these dresses weren't comfortable to wear and she already tripped twice in them. Good thing Hyuuga sensei was around to catch her or she would have fallen flat on her face.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror. This time she was in a royal blue short sleeved lace dress that reached a few inches above her knees. It had a sheer floral overlay (lace) neckline and shoulders. She admitted the fact that at least it looked better than all the previous dresses she tried on.

 _[You could find the dress I had in mind using this link - it's a dress by Ted Baker - London; /n/pd6n6n2bn or_ _. ]_

She stepped out of the changing room like she had done for all the dresses so far and he was still seated on the same spot, a short cushioned chair with a magazine in hand. He wasn't wearing his hoodie and sunglasses anymore and his hair looked messier, if that's even possible. _He looked tired as well so why can't we just go_ ; she kept on thinking.

She stood a few steps in front of him. His eyes widened and he looked shocked for a few seconds. Needn't to say that this was already the nineteenth time she was seeing his face like this. Except for the much darker shade of pink visible in his neck everything else was his normal reactions.

She waited for him to frown next and shake his head, so she was beyond surprised when he smirked and said out loud; "We're buying this".

:-:

They were back in the car and she was sure that she'd fall asleep any minute. One thing was for sure, she was not going to go dress shopping any time sooner again. It was getting quite dark and she couldn't believe that they've been in the shop for very a long time. The wind that brushed her face now was soothing and fresh that she didn't feel suffocated like before. It was refreshing.

"Oi, don't sleep" she heard him say in a softer tone which was an evidence as to how tired he was as well.

She yawned without even trying to hold it back before saying; "Can't help it"

The car came to a halt again. She didn't even know where they were and she didn't care anymore as long as she can get some sleep.

"Come on" she heard him say as he got out of the car. After a few seconds he opened the door for her as well. _Just because the door was open, it's not like you have to get out right? Of course not._

"You're punishment isn't over yet" she heard him say. _Seriously?! There's more?_ She couldn't help, but gape. This person was unbelievable. He reached a hand out for her to take, which she purposely ignored and stepped out of the car. She looked around and was bewildered by the sight in front of her.

They were standing in front of a fancy restaurant. She narrowed her eyes at him. _How can this be a part of the punishment?_ Come to think of it, he may have something hidden up his sleeve. You know, maybe he'll tell her to try all the food there to select the best one and kill her with food poisoning. That's quite unlikely because it's a waste of money and a relation of Hotaru Imai wouldn't do such a thing. _He already did waste a lot of money_ ; a tiny voice in her head said. It was true, that dress he had bought her earlier was very expensive and buying it just to punish her – which she wasn't sure how he'd do – was actually a waste right?

She walked behind him and entered the huge double doors. She felt a sudden chill as she looked around her. The insides were heavily draped and dim lighted.

A waiter formally and neatly dressed ushered them to a table at the far end of the dining area. She was still trying to grasp the fact that she was inside a fancy restaurant as her punishment. She had been to these kinds of restaurants many times before, but she never felt this exited. She knew that she shouldn't be exited in the first place, but she can't help it. Why was she excited in the first place? No idea.

"What type of food will you be having, Mr. and Mrs. Hyuuga?" the waiter asked. She choked. The waiter got it all wrong, they weren't even a couple. Her face was tomato red and even though she opened her mouth to talk, nothing actually came out. She looked at Hyuuga sensei who was seated in front of her hoping that he'd clear the misunderstanding, but he just simply told the waiter to bring a Chinese food menu and an Italian food menu.

:-:

"What?" he asked casually as if nothing was wrong. He saw how red her face was and tried not to laugh.

"T-t-that waiter-" she hardly managed the words out. He lifted an eyebrow at her quizzically. He loved to tease her, but he'd stop for now since the both of them were tired.

"Oh, don't mind him." He replied with his signature smirk and handed her the Chinese menu while he opened the Italian menu himself.

He had a liking towards Italian food more than any other type of food maybe because of its unique taste. Chinese food he believed was not that healthy since it contained a lot of oil. He was surprised when Imai's text said – ' _ **Chinese Food'**_ since girls don't consume fatty stuff that much, but as expected, she was different than the others when it came to choice of food as well.

"Now let's discus your punishment, shall we?" he said and he saw her go pale. His lips tugged upwards a little as he kept something on the table. He saw her look at it quizzically.

And finally she asked; "What's that?"

:-:

She saw him holding back his smile before saying; "Ribbons"

There were two of them. What was this person trying to tell her to do with it? She titled her head to the side a little. She still doesn't see his point.

"From here on-wards, you'll have to wear your hair in two pigtails" her eyes widened.

"To school, everyday?" she wasn't sure whether she heard it correctly. Was she actually supposed to use those two red ribbons to tie her hair into two pigtails, to school?

"Yes. Got any problems?" she heard him ask and there was a trail of humor in his voice.

This was _not_ funny; she was eighteen years old so how could he expect her to wear two pigtails in public? She didn't have a choice so she sighed before saying; "Fine"

"Good. Now since that's settled, listen to the rest of your punishment"

"There's more?" she couldn't believe her ears.

"Remember the dress we bought? You'll be wearing it this Sunday evening"

 _What?! Wear that dress on Sunday evening? Such a quality piece of cloth as a casual home-wear?_

"How will you find out whether I wore it or not?" she asked aloud. That's right, even if she wore it at on Sunday, there's no way he'd find out.

"I have my ways" he smirked.

* * *

 _ **THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS POINTLESS EFFORT BECAUSE EVERY HARD WORK PAYS OFF SO BE PATIENT.**_

* * *

 **So how was it? Hope it met your expectations and hope you enjoyed it (?) So feel free to share your opinions as well.**

 _BTW, if you didn't manage to find the dress I've mentioned, let me know. If most of you want, I could put a picture of it up as my story cover for a while._

 **Thank you so much for reading, adding this to your favorites and for following this story.**

 **Timey Wimey Detecter, Alex, Irokaichio, Guest –** So here's the next update. Glad you like it.

 **Loveisfun –** Looks like it wasn't her house.

 **Analissa –** Thank you so much.

 **Lexi1989 –** That's for me to know and you to find out ;) Thanks.

 **Nikinora96 –** Nice guess, you got half of it right. You'll get to know it later.

 **Thank you so much for reviewing guys.**

 **Sue-chan.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi everyone! I've updated my story much faster this time. Do enjoy. Feel free to share your opinions as well. _MY STORY COVER IS THAT DRESS MENTIONED IN CHAPTER SEVEN._**

 ** _The words in italics are their thoughts -_ just told you in case you'd get confused.**

 **To everyone who are 'following' my story** **-** First of all I'd like to apologize to all of you - yesterday I accidently found out the fact that all of you get notifications each time I re-update an already existing chapter. I'm so sorry if you've received notifications like that until now, even when I haven't updated a new chapter. I'll refrain from my last minute editing after the chapter has been published. Sorry guys and thank you for keeping up with it.

 **Disclaimer; I don't own G.A.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter eight**_

It was rather silent and the only sounds he could hear were the car engine and the pretty little brunette's even breaths. She was cuddled like a ball, asleep in the passenger seat and he just couldn't help, but glance her way. He was driving at a steady pace, making sure to be careful not to wake her up. She looked so peaceful and innocent. Her hair swayed in the wind freely and he just found it hard to take his eyes off her.

She stirred a little. _Of course it was chilling outside_. He adjusted his leather jacket so it would cover her as a whole, with one hand as he firmly held on to the steering wheel with the other. He ran his hand through her soft auburn locks that had grown longer now. _Its tips were curled making them look more attractive_ ; he thought.

He stopped the car for a while just to stare at her more. The moon light shone brightly on her face. He just couldn't help, but think that she looked like an angel from heaven. _If only she remembered_ ; he thought, but he knew that it was too much to ask for. If time froze now, he wouldn't have to wake her up and he could just stare at her like this for an eternity. Of course it was an impossible thing.

He leaned a little towards her as he fixed the hair strands that had fallen on to her face. He caressed her soft cheeks that felt warm against his palms. And of course, he tried not to look at her tempting lips, which were parted a little, challenging him and daring him. He gulped. "Control yourself" he said out loud to no one in particular, but more to himself. He slowly leaned down and kissed her forehead. He felt his insides churn. He felt like outside had gotten colder after he leaned away from her warmth, back to his cold seat.

As much as he'd like to stay here forever, he knew that the longer it took to reach her house, the more possibility for her to catch a cold. Her health was more important than any of his desires, so he immediately started the car again.

:-:

In front of him was the Yukihara mansion's iron gate. He saw the security guard walk towards his car with a lit torch. He covered the sleeping girls face with his leather jacket, to avoid any ruckus.

"How may I help you sir?"

"I'm here to meet Miss Imai. Open the gates." he replied.

"Yes sir, right away." He smirked as the guard hurried away to open them. The benefit of asking help from his cousin was; thanks to her everything fell right into place.

He saw the fairy huge gates open wide in front of him. A short drive way was there in front the huge white modern looking house. Thanks to a certain someone, he knew that the Yukihara couple was out for a dinner party. So he knew that he could freely drop the brunette home without getting his secret ruined. And of course his expensive helper – Imai, was told to come over by Mrs. Yukihara, to keep an eye on the youngest Yukihara child till his sister arrived after her detention ended. So all he had to do was give Imai a little bribe to help him enter the house to drop off the brunette. It was simple and convenient, except for the part where he had to convince Imai that he'd take care of her friend properly.

He was sure that Hotaru Imai was waiting somewhere near the door impatiently till he arrived with Mikan. Tch…..his cousin was an over protective best friend.

Just as he parked the car, the main door opened. He wasn't at all surprised to see the figure standing there with both of her arms crossed in front of her.

"It took you long enough, Hyuuga" he heard her say stoically.

"Good to see you too Imai" he said with sarcasm as he slowly picked up the sleeping brunette bridal style, making sure not to wake her up.

His whole body felt electrified as he held her closer to him, just like the previous day behind the door. He knew that his face was heating up- mind you, he wasn't blushing. Natsume Hyuuga never blushes. Yet he was relieved that his bangs were covering his face from Imai's view.

"Don't drop her" he heard her say as she opened the door wider, enough for them to enter.

He rolled his eyes before saying; "I won't"

He looked around the house. He knew that it has been a couple of years since the Yukiharas' had bought this house. It was however the first time he entered this place.

"Her room's upstairs. First door to the right" Imai's voice sounded impatient.

He walked towards the stairs, holding her firmly and carefully like she'd brake in to two pieces if he added more pressure.

"I'll give you ten minutes. If you're late I'm coming up and you're as good as dead." He heard her voice from behind.

"Tch…whatever"

:-:

He saw her stir again after she was placed on her bed. She was squeezing the red ribbons he had given her at the restaurant. He took them from her hands slowly and kept it on her bedside table. He then covered her with the quilt and just as he was going to move away, he felt a grip on his wrist. His eyes widened.

"…don't let go….." she was talking in her sleep. Guess it was okay to stay for a while. He sat beside her on the bed which had pink covers. She was still gripping his hand tightly. _It's been a while_. He smiled.

A few seconds after, a flash light came across from the room door. Oh why wasn't he surprised? Imai stood there grinning like a fool with her stupid camera.

"Nice. Please continue. I'd be down stairs and remember- EIGHT MINUTES more" she said before leaving. He was _so_ going to burn that camera of hers with his lighter.

Polka's room- he noticed was pretty neater than he had expected. On her bedside table stood a photo frame. He reached for it slowly and examined the picture.

There were five children; a brunette who of course was Mikan when she was around ten years old, a raven who happened to be Imai and another three boys. The brunette was happily hugging the raven and the raven didn't seem to mind it as she blankly stared at the camera. He knew his cousin well enough to know the fact that she hated hugs the most, but there were always exceptions. He looked at the three boys more carefully and identified them to be Tobita, Kitsume and that stupid Yome. He clutched the frame tightly in his hand. Why does he suddenly feel irritated? He didn't like the idea of leaving the frame on the bedside table again, but he kept it anyway. He knew that Mikan wouldn't be happy to wake up and see her photo frame in pieces.

He then glanced at the brunette again and then at his watch. He better leave now before the Yukiharas came. He didn't want to explain what he was doing here instead of spending time in Hawaii. He slowly removed her fingers off from his wrist and walked out of the door. He sustained the urge to turn around and look at her again because he knew the outcome would only make him stay there much longer.

Just as he slowly closed the door, another door from the opposite side slowly opened.

"Mi-chan?" he heard a soft voice. By the door stood a seven year old boy with messy grey hair and greenish-brown eyes. The kid was rubbing his sleepy eyes.

He all of a sudden, felt awkward. He was never good with little kids even though he has an eleven year old little sister.

"Umm….. She's….." what was he supposed to say to this kid?

"Who are you mister?" looks like he was in trouble. Now what?

"Umm…why don't I drop you off to bed little guy?" he reached for the kids hand.

:-:

He sighed as he descended the staircase. It was one heck of a day. Imai was seated on one of the sofas reading what he assumed was a news magazine.

"So you handled the little kid too, impressive"

"You knew he was awake didn't you? And you did nothing" he wasn't at all surprised, this was Hotaru Imai after all.

"Yup. That's because it was none of my business. So what did you say to the kid?" he heard her ask curiously.

"None of your business" he smirked as he exited the house and drove off. He was sure that by now, Imai was annoyed as hell. He knew that she never liked to be kept in the dark and that she'd find it out somehow. Not that he minded.

:-:

Her head was heavy and she felt a bit dizzy like she's having a hangover. Then again, it couldn't possibly be a hangover because she had never in her eighteen year old life taken any drinks so far as she can remember. The glass of wine she accidentally drank, thinking it was grape juice doesn't count because she vomited right after it. Drinking; she believed was for people with severe problems and her life was okay so far, so she didn't have a reason to drink to oblivion. So why was she feeling weird now if she didn't drink?

Come to think of it, she had the craziest dream she has ever had- other than her usual series of dreams. In her yesterday's dream; Koko had come back to her school again and for detention Hyuuga sensei had taken her dress-shopping and had even taken her to some fancy restaurant for dinner which was entirely impossible. It was practically like a date. The waiter had even called her Mrs. Hyuuga! It sure was one heck of a dream, she laughed. That won't be happening in real life and she was thankful for it, though she'd love to go on a car ride in that open-top Mercedes. Heck, Hyuuga sensei might not even have such a car in the first place since it was all in her dream.

She yawned again before getting off her bed and then stopped dead on her tracks. What the hell was that beautiful blue dress doing, hanging on her closet door? She squinted her eyes and looked in the same direction again thinking that she was hallucinating. It was still there. She screamed.

It didn't take long for her to meet a pair of familiar violet eyes. "What happened?" she heard her ask.

"Hotaru? W-what are you doing here?"

"Good morning to you too" she heard Hotaru say stoically before entering her room and standing beside her, looking at the dress as well.

She smiled sheepishly before saying; "Good morning Hotaru"

"Nice dress" she heard her comment before turning around and heading towards the door.

 _OMG this can't be happening_. _It hadn't been a dream after all_! All the memories from yesterday came rushing to her mind at a high speed that she felt breathless. She knew that normally Hotaru would come to spend the night at her house when her parents would go out for dinner and when she too was going to be late to come home,which only confirmed the fact that everything was not a dream. She gaped out loud.

"Get ready idiot or we'll both be late. I'll be waiting for you at the breakfast table" she heard Hotaru say as she walked out of her room.

"Wait! There's something I want to ask you." She yelled after her.

"Let's talk during the ride to school. I'm hungry" she heard her reply before completely disappearing.

:-:

This was like one of her worst nightmares. She was standing in front of her mirror in two pigtails. She was sure that everyone would be freaked out by it. Heck, she was too. She went to have breakfast in their family dining room and it was just as she thought.

Her mother almost dropped the plate she was holding and her father chocked on his food. Hotaru dropped her spoon and kept staring at her with wide eyes. The only one who was unfazed by her hairstyle was Youchi her little brother.

"H-h-honey w-what have you done to your hair?" her mother was practically stuttering. Okay so she knew that people around her would freak out, but she didn't think they'd be this much _horrified_.

It was also pretty weird because she spotted You-chan look at her with an unusual expression before he _purposely_ chocked her to death saying; "Yey, Mi-chan's gonna have loooots of kids!" She even saw Hotaru smirk after hearing it.

Can someone please tell her, what wearing two pig tails has to do with having lots of kids? _Urgh!_

:-:

* * *

 **Hey there people, I updated my story much faster. So how was it? Hope you liked it.**

 **Thank you for reading, adding this to your favourites and for following this story.**

 **Sakura Shiragiku –** Glad you enjoyed it. I've added more of Natsume's POVs in this chap- hope you enjoyed them. Thanks.

 **Analissa- :):):)** ;);) looks like it.

 **Guest-** I've included more of them. Hope you enjoyed.

 **Lexi1989-** I've put a pic of that dress as my story cover as you've requested- you might have already seen it by now- actually that dress is one of my personal favorites. I love its color.

 **Nikinora96 –** Thanks. I can't literally explain Mikan and Koko's relationship at the moment but you'd get to know it as the story progresses.

 **Loveisfun –** You'll find an answer to your question soon when Sunday comes. Do keep tuned.

 **Haruhi-chan131-** I'm glad you liked it. You'll find that out on Sunday as well. Do keep tuned.

 **Timey wimey detecter -** lol :):):):) ;)

 **Thank you so much for reviewing. Look out for my next update as well. Until then, bye.**

 **Sue-chan**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's the next chapter dear readers. Do enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think.**

 **DISCLAIMER; I UNFORTUNATELY DON'T OWN G.A. – you all might know that by now.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter nine**_

"I dunno" She heard Hotaru say while munching her crab-crackers.

"It doesn't make sense! Plus You-chan is a genius so it's unlikely for him to say something like that out of the blue." She ranted. They were down the school corridor at that minute, but her friend hadn't answered any of her questions clearly.

"For the billionth time Mikan, ask Hyuuga" Hotaru seemed irritated, but hey it's her who should be.

"Why him? He's not even a Biology teacher or an expert in hair styles so….." she looked around only to find herself standing alone in the corridor. Hotaru had ditched her. _What a friend_ ; she thought.

So the only stuff she knew so far was that; she wasn't actually stuck in a nightmare, Hyuuga sensei had brought her home, he had even carried her to her bedroom- _pretty creepy_ \- and last, but not least that You-chan's words have something to do with a certain crimson eyed person.

"How come? Did he meet You-chan? Impossible" she told herself aloud. _You-chan had to be sleeping so no way_.

"Thinking about me early in the morning Polka?" she heard his voice. Oh, why did she run into him early in the morning? Oh, yes because fate hated her so much that not only was she wearing her punishment pigtails, but now she had to run into him so he could rub it in her face.

"Why would I" she replied nonchalantly.

"Well because you owe me big time and you miss me?" she scoffed. She certainly doesn't owe him anything and was it just her or was the person in front of her technically flirting with her? Nah, it's probably because he might be thinking that the world revolved around him.

"By the way nice hair style" she heard him add. "Well thank you Hyuuga _sensei_ – she emphasized – I wouldn't be able come up with it if it weren't for you -she said with sarcasm- Plus I don't remember owing you anything."

She saw him smirk before saying; "That's because you were busy sleeping while hugging me desperately and saying some inappropriate stuff"

Her eyes widened. She said inappropriate stuff while hugging him? Wait, what could she have possibly said to him? She wiped her forehead with her palm as she tried to make herself remember what she might have said in her sleep.

"W-w-what did I say? Hold on, I don't sleep talk"

"Oh yes you do. Why don't you try to remember what you said, by yourself? See you around Polka" He said before he started to walk in the opposite direction from her. _Oh great_ – with sarcasm - _I now have another thing in my worry list;_ she thought _._ Somebody up there really does hate her.

:-:

Yuu almost dropped the vase he was holding. Koko slipped from the chair he was standing on and fell on top of Kitsume who was gaping widely. The whole class was silent for a while. Sumirie's eyes looked like it was about to pop out of its sockets and she stuttered; "W-w-what the hell? Did you finally lose your sanity Sakura?"

All of these reactions were because of her new hair style.

"Umm….. Nope" she answered sheepishly.

"By chance is this your punishment?" it was Koko. He had a frown evident in his face. He clearly wasn't pleased with the things happening.

"Sort of" she wasn't going to tell the whole class about the other half of her punishment and she certainly won't talk a single thing about how her detention turned out to be. However she had a feeling that Hotaru knew all about it.

"So Mii-chan~ wannagooutwithmetoday?" Koko was standing only a few steps away from her but she didn't manage to catch the last part of his sentence which he said without even breathing. His forehead was even covered with sweat. She stared at him for a while trying to figure out what he must have said.

"Tch…. idiot. Ask this idiot properly and clearly." Hotaru said to Koko while looking pointedly at Mikan.

Mikan saw him gulp hard and straighten his shoulders like he was going to recite a speech in front of a huge crowd. Seriously what had gotten in to her easy going goofball of a friend?

He let go of a huge sigh before looking straight at her hazel eyes. Okay so now she was feeling a bit awkward. She was curious to find out about the thing that had got Koko so worked up, but for some reason it was making her feel uneasy as well.

"I-I-" he began, but Hyuuga sensei walked inside right afterwards.

"What the hell-"she heard Koko say as he looked away. Okay so now she was more curious to hear what Koko had to say and she was also curious as to why Hyuuga sensei was here instead of Narumi sensei.

"Everyone go back to your seats" he ordered while looking pointedly at Koko. She saw Koko roll his eyes and mumble something before doing so. Hotaru however was smirking as she mouthed; 'nice timing' to Hyuuga sensei.

"Narumi sensei won't be able to make it here at the moment so I'll be taking his period today" she heard him say and she didn't fail to hear the giggles and squeals that came from random girls in the class. _Why do these stupid girls like a jerk like him anyway_? This question had been floating in her mind for a while now. Yet, she hadn't found a proper answer for it.

"Miss Sakura, why don't you answer this" Oh crap, she better stop spacing out in class. Answer what? She looked around and there was nothing written on the board. She was done for. She braced herself ready to hear him say, 'DETENTION FOR ANOTHER WEEK'.

"X equals five" she heard a familiar voice. Koko had answered it for her. Phew….. she sighed.

"Mr Yome, I asked Miss Sakura, not you" his voice seemed aggressive.

"Really? Oops!" Koko replied while shrugging. She wasn't sure whether it was her imagination or not, but she did see Koko and Hyuuga sensei glare at each other.

:-:

"Let's go" Koko said while draping a hand around her shoulders.

"I can't. I'm on detention" she said to him again.

"No problem, I'll wait" he said as he ran a hand through his messy hair.

"Thanks" she smiled. Koko will be taking her somewhere today to make up for not contacting her all this time, just like he had promised her earlier.

He even walked her to the detention classroom silently and opened the door for her. She saw Hyuuga sensei leaning on the teachers table with his arms crossed. He lifted an eyebrow when he saw them together at the door.

"See you later Mii-chan" Koko said casually before looking straight at Hyuuga sensei and then he left.

:-:

Koko slapped his forehead hard. He had been such a coward. When Mikan had asked him what he had to tell her, he only told her that he wanted to take her somewhere as an apology for his previous actions. He barely managed to say those words as well. How was he ever going to tell her how he felt?

If Hotaru hadn't teased him a few days ago, he wouldn't have ever figured it out by himself.

"You like her don't you?" was what Hotaru had whispered in his ear that day and he still gets goose bumps when he recalls her words. Even though he denied it at that time and went as far as he could, away from the clueless Mikan and the prying Imai, those words haunted him each time he saw them. And finally he realized that they were true.

He was in love with his childhood friend- Mikan.

It all made sense. The reason he stopped calling her after transferring out, the reason he worked his ass off to get good grades in his new school so he could transfer back as soon as possible and the reason he was so worried when Yuu and Kitsu told him that Mikan was not well; was all because he really liked her.

And technically now he is chickening out when it comes to confessing his feelings to her. He laughed at himself. He never thought a day like this would ever come, in which he had to speak his heart out. Oh well, it's not like Mikan was going to disappear anytime soon. He had all the time in the world for it.

However, he didn't like the sound of her 'detention with Hyuuga sensei'. It gave off a bad vibe.

:-:

Hyuuga sensei didn't say anything to her as she came in, so she shrugged and took her usual seat at the very back of the class before he could drag her somewhere today as well. He stood glued to his spot with a distant look on his face.

Everything was still silent which amazed her. She had brought a story book with her today to keep herself occupied. She was so glad that she did so or else the fact that she sleep talked to him and hugged him might have made things more awkward for her.

However, she was itching to ask him what pigtails had to do with having lots of kids, but she didn't know how to ask it out loud without making herself look like a fool. She thought of different ways to ask him about it, but none of it was good enough. She sighed out loud.

"That's quite a sigh you let loose."

She looked ahead only to find him sitting on the chair in front of her. The back-rest of the chair was in-between his legs and both his hands and chin were resting on top of it. His alluring crimson eyes looked straight at her widened hazel eyes.

All this staring was giving her goose bumps. She wanted to remove her eyes away from his deep crimson pools, but she couldn't. She started to feel her face heating up again. According to Hotaru's explanation, she was literally blushing. Yet she still didn't understand why people blushed. "Figure it out on your own" Hotaru had said to her when she had asked her.

"W-what are you doing?" she asked him. It has been more than twenty minutes now and she knew that he was still staring.

She anyhow looked away from him and fixed her gaze back at her book after staring at him for a couple of seconds- yes, she technically couldn't stand to stare at him more than that because her heart felt weird.

"I'm staring" he replied baldly.

Of course she knew that. She felt his penetrating gaze on her this whole time and she was trying her best to stay unaffected by the warm breath that hit her forehead each time he exhaled. She didn't want to take a risk and lift her face from the book because she was afraid that it'll turn out like last time when his bangs hit her forehead. Except, this time it could be his chin or somewhere else. She shuddered at the thought.

"Why?" she casually asked, trying her best to sound uninterested.

"I don't know. Maybe because you suddenly seem interesting" his voice sounded serious and mischievous at the same time. It was like he enjoyed making her uncomfortable.

"What has pigtails got to do with lots of kids?" she finally decided to ask it out loud. Curiosity kills a cat and she wasn't going to die young.

She slowly lifted her face from her book when she sensed that the cost was clear. She then impatiently waited till he answered.

"Lots of little girls with long hair like to wear pigtails." He replied with a smirk. Gosh, was he playing around with her? Maybe she should ask it more clearly.

"No-no let me rephrase it. If you wear pigtails, will you get a lot of kids?" Now he will have to speak the truth.

"Umm…" he pretended to think for a while and then leaned closer towards her as if he was going to tell her a secret.

:-:

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about, but if you want a lot of kids all you had to do was say so" he smirked after seeing her priceless expression. He was enjoying this so much.

"NO-No- Hyuuga sensei I meant- Argh! Never mind" He saw her face flush in many shades of red before she pouted like a kid.

"Don't call me Hyuuga-sensei all the time Polka, it's irritating. Call me Natsume when it's just the two of us or when we're outside the school. I'm your friend's cousin after all" It annoyed the hell out of him each time she addressed him with his family name.

"Then don't call me Polka all the time"

"Done."

He won't call her Polka all the time now, but he could use that name once in a while right? This girl should seriously be taught on how to properly form questions and sentences wisely.

He would have had the pleasure of staring at her face and annoy her for another couple of hours, but detention ended after an hour.

He saw her giddily packing her stuff. He couldn't just let her leave like that, especially not without making her call him Natsume for at least once. _Why was she so excited to leave anyway_?

"Oi, where are you going?" He couldn't help but sound curious.

"Detention ended." He heard her say as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He silently walked her to the door. He tried to convince himself that she was just eager to go home and that was why she was excited, but he failed at it.

He almost punched the door when he saw Yome standing outside with his arms crossed. _What was he doing here_? Was the first thing that crossed his mind.

"Yo~ Mii-chan" he heard him great the brunette with a wide grin.

"- and hello Hyuuga-sensei" Yome greeted him with a steady face. For some reason he seriously disliked this kid in front of him.

"Come on we're late" he saw the two leave without even bothering to bid him good bye. He couldn't help, but wonder where they were going.

He had to find out.

:-:

"Amusement park?! Yey!" she couldn't remember the last time she came to this place. It had been so long ago.

"Let's try the roller coaster first" Koko said while dragging her to its qu. They next visited the game zone and played video games for hours. She lost to Koko in most of the games, but she had so much fun.

And the best thing about amusement parks was – food. She ate a lot of Hawlons, sweet fluffy marshmallow like candy balls. Hawlons were only found in amusement parks these days, so she hardly got a chance to eat them recently.

 _The amusement park was more fun with Koko_ , she thought. There wasn't a single second he had stood silently. He always had something funny to tell her and she hadn't laughed this much in ages. She seriously missed this goofball a lot and it felt good to have him back.

"Let's try the Ferris wheel next" she heard Koko say and she suddenly remembered her phobia of heights. She didn't want to worry Koko about it so she dragged him to an ice-cream stall again saying she was hungry.

:-:

Five boxes of Howlon! Three ice-cream corns with four scoops of different flavors each?!

He couldn't believe his eyes. This girl seriously wants to die with diabetes! And that idiotic Yome didn't even stop her from eating all that.

It's been more than two hours since he started following the brunette and her companion. He had to be extra careful not to be noticed by either of them. He was positive that they wouldn't recognize him anyway since he was wearing his leather hoodie and sunglasses.

He couldn't believe it that he, Natsume Hyuuga was actually following two teenagers in an amusement park. It was a pretty immature thing to do, but he didn't care anymore. The things that were bothering him at the minute was a certain brunette's eating habits and the fact that she was laughing without a care in the world with another guy. He would have burned the entire ice-cream shop if he had his lighter with him.

That Yome kid was already getting on his nerves. He couldn't stand to see that kid anywhere near the brunette. Like that day morning when he saw Yome standing a few feet away from a certain brunette, struggling to tell something which seemed important, he walked into the class without even thinking twice and told everyone that Narumi-sensei won't be able to make it to class. Technically he asked Narumi-sensei to hand over the period to him just this once. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't liked it when Yome talked to Mikan.

However, he didn't have a choice at the minute. All he could do was just look at the two who were having a great time, from a mere distance while trying his best not to go up to them and drag the brunette away.

:-:

After trying out almost all the flavors of ice-cream there she actually felt dizzy so both of them ended up going home afterwards. She went straight to her room hoping to sleep like a log, but she almost died of a shock when she entered her room. It looked as if a typhoon had visited it. All her dresses and other clothes were thrown everywhere and her walk in closet doors were opened wide. And right on qu her mother walked out of it holding a familiar looking royal blue dress.

"This is it! Oh, there you are child!" her mother said as she came and hugged her joyfully.

"Mom what's happening here? And why are you holding that?" she asked as she distastefully pointed at the dress. The dress reminded her of her yesterday's punishment and detention.

"Well, I don't know where you got this, but it's perfect!" her mother was now inspecting the dress eagerly.

"Umm… it's sort of like a present. Perfect for what anyway?" she slowly made her way to her bed trying her best to not step on one of her dresses that lay almost everywhere.

"For dinner" her mother was still fiddling with the lace neckline of the dress. She still didn't get why she should wear an expensive dress like that for a normal dinner. Anyway it made more sense than just wearing it on a casual evening like Hyuuga sensei had asked her to.

"Why?"

"Well don't tell me you forgot!" her mother was hysterical now.

"Forgot what?" she wasn't sure what her mother was referring to.

"The dinner at your fiance's house this Saturday"

And the bitter truth dawned upon her. How could she have forgotten the fact that she was engaged to a stranger? And moreover, she's going to have dinner at his place with his whole family- technically her in-laws, this Saturday?

 _Oh, hell._

* * *

 _~LOVE_ _DOESN'T ASK YOU TO DISCARD YOUR PRIDE. IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT PROTECTING SOMEONE IMPORTANT TO YOU~_

* * *

 **Hi! So how was it? Sorry to keep you guys waiting. Do share your opinions on this chapter with me anytime. Thank you all for reading, adding this to your favourites and for following this story.**

* * *

 **Lexi1989-** Hey buddy, glad and happy that you liked it. Love your stories a lot as well – who doesn't anyway? ;) Do update 'the guy next door' soon. My apologies for the delay in replying to you.*bows down* Glad that I was able to be of help. :)

 **Sakura Shiragiku-** Hi Kathy, thanks a lot.

 **Nikinora96 –** Hey, no worries. I bet this chapter answered your earlier question. The thing with pigtails and having a lot of kids is something between Youchi and Natsume;) Wait and find out dear. Thank you so much for the compliment.

 **Irokaichio –** OMG! I'm so sorry to scare you like that. Don't worry it's just Natsume being creative, nothing more. LOL. Do continue to wear your hair the way you usually do. Thank you and glad you like it.

 **Haruhi chan –** Thank you so much. Hope this chapter met your expectations as well (?) Glad you liked the dress:)

 **Bukspiks –** You're welcome. Do keep tuned for more.

 **Loveisfun -** Hi Danusckanet, thank you:)

 **Anilissa –** Thank you soooo much for always being the first one to review all of my new stories. I'm happy that you liked 'Our Infinity'. I'll consider your request as well. Thanks again:)

 **Thank you all so much for reviewing! xoxo**

 **~Sue-chan~**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi!guys, here's the new chapter! Sorry for the long wait. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter ten**

 _The atmosphere was mild. The sky was rather cloudy so the sun rays barely touched the grass. There were grass everywhere which meant that it technically was a playground or a field. Either way, it felt somewhat warm and fuzzy despite the early morning coldness._

 _There were three children standing from a visible distance, three boys to be more precise. A brunette and two older ravens. The brunette had a blindfold on and was trying to catch the other two ravens. They were laughing and happily running around on the grass- well technically the brunette and the tallest raven were while the much shorter raven just crossed his arms and stood still staring at them. The brunette tripped due to a rock and the two ravens caught him without any difficulty before he hit the ground. It was as if the other two boys knew that it would happen. The scene was just nice to keep looking at. Yet suddenly it all went black._

:-:

"Ouch!" she yelled while clutching her hair.

"I'm sorry Miss Yukihara" the lady said as she tried her best to gently comb the brunette's hair.

"Gosh Mikan, stop whining like a three year old and let her properly do her job." came Hotaru's monotone from behind.

"But it hurts" she mumbled. She saw Hotaru roll her eyes. She sighed and started to talk again.

"I still don't see why I have to fix my hair in a beauty parlor"

She was just going to have dinner with a bunch of strangers – correction- her to be in-laws and fiancé who she was sure she wouldn't get married to. So yeah, she didn't have to look good in their eyes.

"Well let me see – Hotaru pretended to think for a while – because your hair's a complete mess" Hotaru replied stoically.

The hair stylist who was done with her hair then applied something on her face which also happens to be a face mask and then covered her face with a foil. She was told to wait like that for a while. Waiting was not her thing, heck going to a beauty parlor was way out of her league but she didn't have a choice. She was technically dragged here by Hotaru under her mother's instructions. She was sure that Hotaru might have made a very beneficial deal with her mother which was why she didn't even get a chance to sneak out of this place. Hotaru had been watching her all this time like a hawk.

It was just the two of them now in the special room at the parlor since the stylist went out. She could hear Hotaru turn pages in the magazine she had been reading ever since they got here.

"Guess what, I saw another dream last night" she told aloud.

"About what?" Hotaru's voice sounded curious and weird at the same time. She couldn't see her facial expression thanks to the cloth like thing on top of her eyes.

"You know the usual" she tried to sound unexcited but she was dying to tell Hotaru the difference in her this time's dream.

"You mean you saw the two of us plating around on the grass again?"

"No-no how many times did I tell you Hotaru that it wasn't the two of us? They were two boys I'm sure of it."

"It's you and me when we were little." She heard Hotaru say sternly after a deep sigh.

"It can't be. I'm sure you wouldn't run around while laughing like that. Plus the supposed to be you guy was way taller than the young you" she said.

"Duh?! That's why it's called a dream, dummy. You might have wanted to play with me like that, so that's why you always see the same dream over and over again- with a much taller me."

"It was different this time" she finally said rather proudly. She thought she heard Hotaru slightly gasp, but then again it could just be her imagination.

"Why?" Hotaru's voice sounded well composed.

"There were THREE BOYS –she emphasized- this time"

"Another raven haired kid?" She noticed the curiosity in Hotaru's voice.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Well, it was obvious. That must be Shouda" She almost choked herself to death after Hotaru's words.

"You mean Permy?!" she yelled. "Why would I see Permy in my dream?"

"Well since you've wanted to befriend her since a long time ago" Hotaru had a point there, but it was impossible. She herself gave up that ironic idea of befriending Sumirie Shouda the fashion freak in her class after failing at it a few times.

"She never wears shorts. Even you and I used to hate wearing shorts" she stated the obvious.

"That's why it's called a dream idiot. And could you stop talking now because you might ruin the mask on your face" she heard Hotaru say before turning the magazine page again.

She sighed. _Maybe Hotaru was right_. It might have been just herself, Hotaru and Permy. She didn't see their faces clearly after all.

Dreams; she came to the conclusion were baseless imaginations that had nothing to do with real life. However she simply loved to dream the night away.

:-:

"You look gorgeous Mii dear" Her mother squealed. Technically this was like the hundredth time she heard those words from her mother.

Gosh, the day she had been dreading had finally arrived. She was sure that by evening she'd be suffocated to death in her fiancé's house.

She sighed heavily as her mother squealed again in excitement. She can't help, but wonder whether it was herself or her mother that was originally going through this entire engagement-marriage thing.

"Oh, I can't wait!" her mother said aloud. She rolled her eyes. _Final conclusion; this is mom's engagement, not mine_ ; she thought. Seriously! The way her mother eagerly applied everything on her dressing table that read; beauty product/ make-up, was a good example that certified her final conclusion.

However after getting herself out of the parlor she was forced into the royal blue evening dress which she was going to wear anyway. She then had to help her little brother You-chan to fit into his mini tux, which made him look even more adorable than he already was.

And finally she and Youichi placed themselves on the couch and kept looking at their mother who was by then, pacing left and right in front of the couch.

"Mommy what's wrong?" Youichi dared to ask. Normally when her mother was pacing with a serious face like that, she knew well enough not to speak to her.

"I forgot! I actually forgot to look for it!" her mother Yuka looked pale as if she had seen a ghost.

"Mom, calm down" she tried her best to ease her mom's nerves which didn't seem to have worked.

"I forgot to look for the engagement ring. What do I do? Oh, what do I do?" was what her mother said before heading towards the main bedroom while fanning herself with her palm.

"We could always cancel the engagement" she said rather mockingly and her mother immediately yelled; "Nonsense child!" from inside the room. She sighed loudly and sank her head in the soft couch cushions.

"Can't we go already?" she heard her little brother's voice. She lifted one of her eyebrows as she looked at Youichi who was impatiently glancing at his red Pokémon digital wrist watch. _Why was he in a hurry?_ She couldn't help but think as she stared at him.

"Why are you staring at me?" the little guy asked her without even looking up.

"Umm….why are you in a hurry?" she couldn't conceal her curiosity. Her brother shrugged and rested his back on the cushion again. Something was really fishy. Youichi wasn't the type of kid who looked forward to go out just for dinner unless there was a very good explanation behind it. Or maybe she's being too observant and maybe Youichi just wanted this to end soon as well.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Their father walked into the living room with one of his best suits on.

The both of them nodded at him- well in her case pouted at him.

"Honey, the ring- it's not there! What am I going to tell Karou?" Her mother rushed out from somewhere, still looking pale and dead worried. _It was just a ring for Pete's sake_ ; but she knew it wasn't a clever idea to voice out her thoughts.

"We're meeting each other after a very long time, so how can I dare to say that I've lost the most important thing in this engagement?"

"She's your best friend, so I'm sure she'll understand." Her father's voice sounded soothing.

"Wait!" I interrupted "who's whose best friend?" I wasn't sure whether I heard it right.

"Karou, your mother in law-to be is my best friend since elementary school" Yuka replied rather proudly.

And she finally understood why her mother was so eagerly preparing herself. However a frown graced her face when it hit her that breaking the engagement may be harder than she ever expected it to be.

"You're right dear – let's go" She watched as her mother happily walked outside with her father. Her mother's sudden mood swings were sometimes unpredictable. She sighed as she reluctantly joined them.

:-:

The drive was rather long but they reached their destination without delay. In front of her eyes stood a huge grand looking mansion with a large landscape around it. They even had a long drive way that lead to a car park enough for more than a hundred cars. _'Is this even a house?'_ she thought as she slowly took the view in. She felt like she was familiar with the view in front of her, but it felt unfamiliar at the same time. Her stomach churned as she reluctantly stepped out of the car.

Not long after, they found themselves following an old well-dressed butler who said; "Lord and Lady are eagerly waiting for your arrival"

She even secretly rolled her eyes at that. _Lord and Lady? What are these people? Some royal family perhaps? Yeah, like that's even possible_. She laughed out aloud and earned a glare from her mother who was now walking a good two feet ahead of her.

They've been walking for what it seems like an eternity and there was still no sign of the 'lord and lady' as the butler mentioned. The passageway seemed rather old covered with those dull coloured wallpapers. And the creepiest thing so far was the fact that there were huge portraits of old men hanging on each side of the wall. It was fascinating that each old man in one picture looked scarier than the old man in the picture before it. Some men were holding those smoke pipes while some smiled rather awkwardly or intimidatingly. She couldn't help, but think that her fiancé might be one of those in the portraits. She winced at the feeling.

The portrait with the most intimidating look however belonged to a woman who looked like she was in her eighties or something. She didn't fail to notice the fact that it was also the only portrait of a woman alone. Next to it was a picture of a beautiful couple who seemed to be in their twenties. They stood together smiling at each other. This was the only normal looking portrait she came across so far.

The old butler stopped near a pair of huge double doors with an elegant touch of gold which looked rather new compared to the old passage they walked in. "We're here" he said before he knocked on the door and opened it afterwards. She held her breath and walked inside behind her parents.

:-:

It had been more than a mere few minutes since they walked inside to this normal looking rather grand living room, but none of them were seated yet. She was now standing next to the woman with long raven hair, whom she assumed to be her mother's best friend Karou. It had to be her because the minute they walked inside, her mother Yuka was immediately hugged by her. Of course she was hugged right afterwards by the same woman. And after the warm hug, she was rather relieved that her mother in-law-to-be was at least more human than she had ever imagined.

She kept staring at her mother and her friend as they eagerly talked with each other when Mr. Iroan her father-in-law-to-be spoke; "Please take a seat" he said courteously. Karou and Iroan seemed to be in their late thirties, but logically they should be much older than that right? She immediately recognized the fact that these two were the young couple in that only normal looking portrait. It was amazing that they hadn't aged that much- as in they still look young, at least younger than her parents. However, the both of them had this familiar look which she couldn't exactly pin point out.

:-:

By the time refreshments arrived, she had practically analyzed the whole living room. She couldn't help but wonder why they had five sets of sofas with different styles in one huge living room. Were they even in a living room in the first place? She should admit the fact that whoever designed and furnished this place had a good sense of fashion and style. There was a huge staircase in the middle at one end of the room which splits into two, halfway. Even though the room looks modern and new, somehow it gives off an old vibe. You know like it was a royal palace ballroom hall, from an old fairytale or something. The grand looking chandler hanging from the ceiling might add up to the weird facts-list she had been making in her head.

She was hardly paying any attention to the conversation going on between the four adults in the living room, but when they occasionally glanced her way; she'd just smile at them like she totally agree with whatever it is. Listening was completely pointless since they wouldn't ask her; 'What do you think about this engagement Mikan?' and she couldn't possibly answer; 'I think I'm better off without it' and ever hope to live.

"I'm so sorry for the long wait, but our son went on a business trip to Hawaii and he is supposed to be here by now. Don't know what is taking him this long." She managed to catch what aunt Karou was telling while glancing at the grandfather clock that she hadn't noticed was there all along.

"Oh, we don't mind" she heard her mother's excited voice.

Of course the more late he is the better. She was so not ready to meet the guy now that his house was creeping her out. She was totally fine even if he didn't manage to come. Meeting his family and seeing his house was way too much already. She couldn't help but wish his flight to be postponed or delayed for a several weeks.

 _Orange juice. It could also be mango juice, but it's highly unlikely for someone to make mango juice as a welcoming drink unless they were in a tropical island. So yes_ , _orange juice it is_. She finally came to the conclusion as aunt Karou handed her a glass with the yellow-ish orange liquid. She barely managed to prevent it from spilling in the process since the liquid almost reached the edge of the glass.

She was about to take a fairly big sip – correction – a huge gulp when _he_ walked through the door in front of her. "Oh there you are dear! What took you so long?" aunt Karou's voice echoed in her head. And the next thing she knows is that her dress happened to be soaked with half of the contained liquid from the glass. Yet it wasn't important at that minute. What was important was what Hyuuga sensei or to properly phrase; Natsume Hyuuga doing standing in front of her. She sat there dripping wet and wide eyed, still unable to grasp the fact.

"Oh my, what happened here?" by the time aunt Karou and everybody else noticed her unfortunate condition, she managed to come up with an excuse that the glass slipped and spilled. Of course she didn't miss Hyuuga sensei's mocking smirk.

She wasn't sure whether she was more angry or more surprised with the turn of events. How could someone possibly be in Hawaii and teach math at her school at the same time. What the hell was Hotaru's cousin doing here in the first place and why did Mr. Iroan call him his son?

"Mikan dear, why don't you two shake hands for a start" her mother said to her while giving off an intense look which she knew very well, that said or-else-you're-dead.

She reluctantly got up from her seat – she was covered in orange juice for Pete's sake! Shouldn't someone offer her a blanket to wipe herself first?

That's it. She will ask everyone here once and for all why she was told he was a business man instead of a math teacher. She could even brake off the engagement saying that these people deceived her or something.

His hands were rather big compared to hers. How come she never noticed this before? They were warm against her skin. Somehow the whole warm feeling vanished as soon as her eyes met his crimson orbs. It clearly told her that he knew all about this whole thing while she was the one kept in the dark. It was mocking her furthermore along with his triumphant smirk. She squeezed his hand harder, but he seemed unaffected by it.

She opened her mouth to finally get her answers and even before she could say a single word her face crashed onto something hard. Her voice was muffled and the living room suddenly turned silent. The feeling was all too familiar. Why the hell did he pull her into a hug in front of everyone in the living room?!

"I guess she was so happy to see me" she heard his familiar voice say mischievously as he looked down at her and smirked.

 _What the hell was happening here?! How could he say that I was the one who hugged him when in reality, he was the one who pulled me into it_ ; she screamed in her head unable to speak as her lips were locked by his hard chest.

"Sorry son, she's covered in juice. Your clothes might get wet as well." She heard her father's voice that somehow sounded rather surprised.

"It's okay, I was going to change mine anyway. I'll give her one of Aoi's dresses." She heard him say politely as he loosened the grip around her waist and held her shoulders firmly.

"Come on Mikan" even from the way he said her name, it was pretty obvious that he was really enjoying the whole thing.

"You two better hurry up because we've got a surprise for you" she heard her father's uneasy voice from behind. She liked the fact that her father was always over protective of her. If Hyuuga didn't have his hand around her shoulder at that time, she would have actually laughed out aloud about it. But she wasn't even in the mood for any surprises as well.

"Aw…..honey you weren't supposed to tell them yet." She heard her mother's voice from behind.

"Do~ take your time~" her mother's voice echoed from behind. Just when she was going to say that she was going to return soon after she change her clothes, she heard that Hyuuga-bastard- fiancé say;

"Yes, we will"

' _He is soooo dead!_ ' she said over and over again in her head as she allowed herself to be dragged away by him.

* * *

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHO YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN (GEORGE ELLIOT)

* * *

 **Hi guys! Sorry for making you all wait for this update. I was quite busy with some unfinished business and was also occupied reading the Hunger Games series -** it's more of a war book but if your thirsty for a new kind of a blooming romance, this is what you should get your hands on immediately **\- and I went on a vacation as well so yeah...that's all:)**

 **Well then, hope the long wait was at least worth it(?) More exciting stuff will be happening soon so do keep tuned in.**

 **Thank you sooooooo much for reading, following and adding this to your favourites.**

 **Lexi1989-** Hey! Thanks pal, glad you liked it. Yup it's Natsume - nice guess. thank you for mentioning the circle of updating your stories. It really is a very productive way of updating your stories. In my case, I just update whatever story I feel like writing at the moment. BTW I have a lot on my to-read list since I wasn't around for a couple of weeks or was it months? any way can't wait to read them:D

 **Anilissa-** HI! Looks like it wasn't some old geezer. Yeah, sooo true:) :)

 **Nikinora96, Guest, Irokaichio, Sakura Shiragiku -** Hi guys, thank you so much :D

 **loveisfun -** Yeah indeed. I totally agree:)

 **Timey Wimey Detecter** \- Really?! I'm soooo happy to hear that my story's existence managed to cheer someone up. Thank you so much for letting me know:D:D

 **Haruhi chan131** \- HI Haru-chan, thank you so much. She finally met her in-laws!

 **JustMe** \- Glad to know that it finally made you laugh. I do enjoy adding a bit of humour to my stories. Glad it worked on you:D


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N; I'm back people! Let's keep this short shall we? *winks***

 **{You might want to read the previous chap before you get on with this;) Just saying….}**

 **DISCLAIMER; In case you didn't notice, I'm not Tachibana Higuchi so I don't own GA;)**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 11_**

She cracked her knuckles –trying her best to imitate Hotaru, and turned around to face Hyuuga- _sensei_. She was never a fan of violence, but ever since she met a certain person called Natsume Hyuuga her patience was running low.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she practically yelled. Good thing the door was closed or her mother would've hurried in to save this guy instead of her. How did he get her mother to like him anyway?

"Tell you what?" he crossed his arms in front of him with a clueless face.

"This" she hissed. She couldn't believe he was still playing the innocent card. _This moron_.

"Would you believe me if I did?" he grinned. If only she could just flush him and his grin away.

"No" she sighed.

Was it just her or was he really enjoying this. She squeezed her fists in to balls.

"Are you okay with this?"

"Of course I'm not okay, marrying an idiot who can't even solve a simple equation"

"Hey! That was because you were saying stuff beside my ear and I couldn't concentrate properly" she pouted. She was really tempted to punch him hard, but she didn't.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, you moron!" she howled and turned around. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. She couldn't tolerate his annoying face anymore.

"Whatever you say _love_ " she heard him emphasize the last word. She couldn't believe he was still kidding around and trying to get under her skin at a crucial time like this. She turned around to give him a piece of her mind. Her eyes immediately met the familiar figure who was- _WAIT!_

"W-what are you doing?!" she stuttered.

She was with him, inside a fairly spacious bedroom which was confining them. And here he was in front of her doing something like _that!_

"Undressing" he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. This guy was unbelievable!

"Y-you can't!" _OMG was he insane?_ He had already undone quite a number of buttons.

She saw him lift one of his perfect- correction- annoying eyebrows like _she_ was spouting nonsense.

"Can't you see that I'm here?" She hissed. Seriously, what was wrong with him? She was there to get answers to everything that had happened so far and that's what he was going to give her.

"What? We're engaged anyway" he replied with a sly grin.

She felt like kicking this guy in front of her. He was now smirking her way while continuing to unbutton the remaining few buttons of his shirt.

"Like what you see?" his words brought her out of her chain of violent-thoughts that were revolving around a certain person.

Her eyes widened. She blushed in a deep shade of red and turned around as soon as his appearance registered in her head. She had just been unconsciously staring at _him_.

Staring at _his_ _chest_ to be more precise _._ It was surprisingly… _delicious_? - She did _NOT_ just think that. All those years with Anna and Nonoko, who drooled over almost all the male models in magazines; has really affected her thoughts pretty badly. It wasn't even good to her heart since it started to act all weird again on its own accord.

'Stupid hormones' she muttered under her breath and banged her head a couple of times on the nearest wall to make sure she wouldn't get any more weird thoughts. And then she stopped when a she realized something important; – _yey~ so I do have a hormones_!

She rejoiced in her head. It was just a couple of weeks ago that Anna had told her that she didn't have any hormones. Well, she wasn't the only one who didn't drool over Edward Cullen's amusing photo; which wasn't supposed to be amusing in the first place. But she was the only one labeled as a hormone-less, un-feminist who doesn't have an eye for men. Of course there was no brave soul out there to label the _great Hotaru Imai_ with such names so yeah; she was pretty much the only one. And now she couldn't wait to prove her friends wrong.

And the whole situation dawned upon her. She couldn't possibly tell them that she almost drooled over Hyuuga sensei's appearance. That was all wrong. Very wrong indeed. He wasn't even hot- okay maybe a little, but she was never going to voice that out. No matter what, Edward Cullen was way better than him, but why was she reacting to his appearance instead of Edward's? Maybe because Edward was just a photograph while this guy's the real deal. _Yeah, that's the reason_ ; she thought.

"So now you're ignoring me?" she heard his arrogant voice after some time.

"Well duh?" she rolled her eyes, but then again he couldn't see it since she was still facing the wall.

She felt a tug on her wrist and her back fell against something extremely soft. She managed to adjust her eyes after the sudden movement only to see a well-built figure towering over her.

 _What the hell?!_

Her whole body went numb all of a sudden as she realized the position they were in. She was on his bed while he was above her looking at her like she was some sort of prey. She hardly prevented herself from passing out of shock. Her mouth was agape while she stared at him wide eyed.

She watched as he bent down and- - - _kissed her nape?_

~/~

"Tch…." He smirked and stood up, pleased with her expression. He walked towards the door and stopped.

"Wear that" he said. He saw her fragile figure, motionless on top of his bed from the corner of his eyes.

He closed the door after himself and immediately leaned on it and sighed. Jeez, he was going to die young if this continued. He shouldn't have acted carelessly like that, but at the spur of the moment he couldn't stop himself.

It was irritating when she ignored him and moreover she looked good in that dress, not to mention her scared face seemed more appealing. What the hell was he thinking? He shouldn't get carried away. But then again he barely managed to stop himself. He rubbed his thumb over his lips and smirked.

Her shell shocked expression when he walked into the living room earlier was epic. Better than what he had pictured. He almost wanted to laugh out loud. To think that she even spilled the drink on her dress after seeing him?

 _Tch… she sure is interesting_.

He didn't think he'd get a chance to give her the extra black dress he had bought along with the blue one. Luck was surely on his side huh? He ruffled his already messy hair, pleased with the outcome of the events so far.

~/~

She couldn't comprehend the situation. What the hell happened just now? She laid there without bothering to move a muscle. Actually she couldn't move a muscle even if she wanted to. Her skin felt like it was burning.

 _Did Hyuuga-sensei just kiss her neck?_

 _~/~_

* * *

~FORGIVE AND BE FREE. FORGET THAT YOU'VE FORGIVEN AND BE FREER~

* * *

 **A/N; Helloooooo guys! It's been a long time huh? Well no I'm not dead and yes I'm back. Then again, I've been dropping by every now and then to see new stories and updates, but I've got a lot of catching up to do. I almost forgot about this once I got my freedom weeks ago, but I saw a lot of reviews in my email inbox recently and I was like,** _ **Ahhhh… How could I have forgotten?!**_

 **So, how was it? Hope the wait was worth it;) LOL. I know it was kind of short, but then again there's more to come. Once again thank you for waiting guys. Loooooove you all so much XOXO**

 **Thanks for reading, adding this to your favs list and following this story.**

 **bukspiks;** Hey! Soooooo sorry to keep you waiting buddy! I'm dying to write some more NxM intense moments as well:) Glad you liked my previous update which was technically months ago. *smiles sheepishly*

I suck at writing summaries, but I guess this one's summery could be considered an exception huh? *wink* Glad it tempted you to read the story. No one in my family and none of my best friends ask me to tell the summary of an event or a story because they practically know I'd end up telling everything. Then again I forcefully tell them anyway and they end up listing to the whole story. I used to tell my BFF one story for months in the name of its summery:)

 **loveisfun;** Hiiii! I'm happy that it made you laugh. I was having the time of my life too while writing it;)

 **Katherine Kalissa Amara;** Hey sweetie, I'm back! Can't wait to hear your lovely stories *wink*

 **Lexi1989;** Hey pal! Congratz for writing 25 stories! OMG that's awesome. Did I tell you that you're story 'YBWM' comes into my mind each time I listen to 'You belong with me'? I even read it a couple of times. It was truly awesome. Can't wait to start reading your new stories and updates buddz:) (Especially KN and The Scam)

 **Guest (1);** Glad you liked it! This chap was kind of short, but I'll surely try to make the next ones extra-long:)

 **Haruhi-chan131;** Hiii! I was tempted to end it as a cliffhanger, but then again many of you already knew that it was him, so I decided add more. I love to end stuff in cliffhangers, but hate it when the book I'm reading ends with a cliffhanger. It just kills me inside. I'm pretty sure everyone hates cliffhangers. Ha haa:) Glad it made you laugh. It was so fun to write that part as well.

 **Anilissa;** Hey, ha haa….. yeah…. maybe, maybe not:) Thanks. I've got a lot of editing to do. I might get to that after some time when I feel like it;)

 **Evil gemini;** Yeah…..it was pretty evident from the start;)

 **newroz;** Heeey, I guess he did:P I'm glad you liked it:)

 **Feu;** Hey, thank you soooo much:P

 **GA;** Hiii! Hope you liked this chap;)

 **Guest (2);** Hey, Sorry for the wait:)

 **Thank you all for reviewing!**

 **-Sue chan**


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